


Call Me Yours

by DizzyComet



Series: Call Me Yours & Hold Me Closer [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Digital Art, Explicit Sexual Content, Good thing Steven loves giving hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Pink just needs a hug, Romance, Steven is a human in this AU, action related violence, mentions of past trauma, nsfw digital art, the green couch is a supporting character at this point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:20:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 63,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23226220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyComet/pseuds/DizzyComet
Summary: Steven is killed by Spinel, but his gem survives him.Years later, corrupted from grief, Pink warps to another universe where an alternate Steven never died. Pink hopes that in seeing this other Steven, he'll get the closure he needs to possibly move on and learn how to live without his better half.Pink isn't prepared for the strange connection he feels with this other version of Steven. This Steven who happily gives him more love than he knows what to do with.--Rating subject to change.
Relationships: Pink Steven Universe/Steven Universe, Pink!Steven Universe/Steven Universe, Steven Universe/Pink Steven Universe
Series: Call Me Yours & Hold Me Closer [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1670014
Comments: 213
Kudos: 741





	1. Holding You In a House of Light

**Author's Note:**

> This story contains Stevencest. Meaning, Steven falling in love with his gem, or the 'Pink' version of himself. 
> 
> If the prospect of this pairing squicks you out or otherwise is Not For You, please turn back now. You have been warned what the romance pairing is, so if you do not like Stevencest please leave.
> 
> Again. Stevencest.

The sun was bright in the sky but cotton like clouds drifted past it lazily, breaking up its rays. The soft sunlight trickled into the room Pink was standing in the middle of.

From where he was standing he could hear the sounds of gulls calling in the distance, the waves breaking on the shore of the beach. It was all so familiar and so much like where he’d come from, Pink thought perhaps his plan had failed. 

But, no. 

It took a few moments for Pink to really believe he wasn’t having a grief fueled hallucination.

Steven’s room in this world was not very different from the one that had existed in Pink’s reality.

The posters and painting on the walls were different, yes. There were some star shaped fairy lights strung across the wall by the bed. Gauzy, white curtains framed the glass window and door out to the balcony. But the crystal geode lamp matched the one that had been on _his_ Steven’s nightstand. The bed also was covered in the same white down-filled duvet. 

Pink could smell Steven’s scent in the room. He remembered how after Steven had died, Pink had barricaded himself in Steven’s room and refused to leave it for over a year. 

He’d huddled in his human’s bed long after his smell had faded from the sheets. 

Now in this room it was nearly overpowering. Pink ran a hand over the bed and shivered at how familiar the fluffy duvet was. He’d spent months cocooned in it, and after a point the gems in his reality had given up on trying to get him to come out. 

Unable to resist the temptation, he carefully pulled back the covers. Pink was surprised to see this world’s Steven had a heavy weighted blanket underneath the duvet along with four pillows but that didn’t deter him. After a moment of hesitation he slid between the sheets, nearly trembling as he pulled the covers back over himself.

Steven’s warm scent, the familiar fabric softener, and the fragrance from the body wash he used all intertwined together. He closed his eyes and burrowed further under the covers until he was completely underneath, and curled into a ball.

Pink hadn’t felt this peaceful in a while. 

He would just stay like this for a little bit while he waited for the Steven that lived here. Pink would see him and be reassured that Garnet was right, that there were dimensions where Steven was never killed, and in fact was still living his life and thriving. 

That was all he wanted to see. 

Maybe once he saw that, he’d finally have the closure he so desperately needed. Pink would go back to his own reality and try to figure out how to exist without his better half. 

He breathed out, intending to get up to find someplace to wait until he could see Steven again. Maybe he’d go on top of the temple’s statue or the lighthouse. That would give him the vantage point he needed to see when Steven came home from wherever he was. 

Steven was probably out on a mission with the gems, and would likely be back in the early evening, that’s how it usually was before anyway. 

He would get up in a moment, he was just suddenly very tired. Also, the bed was warm and smelled like home to him. He’d shut his eyes while he relaxed for a minute and then he’d leave.  
  
  
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.  
  


Pink woke up when he sensed someone near him. Agitated, he curled up tighter. If it was one of the crystal gems he would just ignore them, they should know by now he wouldn’t talk to them.

He felt the cool air of the room waft over him as the cover of the duvet was lifted up.

Pink opened his eyes in alarm and met another pair of eyes peering down at him with bemused curiosity.

“Hi there,” this world’s Steven said in a soft voice. “You’ve been sleeping for a while, are you awake now?”

At once, Pink felt a barrage of emotions slam into him.

Because Steven was standing right there, alive and whole. Pink hadn’t accounted how he’d feel once he saw him, that was a flaw, the emotional variable he hadn’t thought of.

Pink reeled. He hadn’t intended for Steven to _see_ him! The plan had just been to make sure he was okay and then _leave_!

“It’s okay, you don’t need to be afraid.” Steven’s eyes roved over him. “So, I can tell you’re a corrupted gem but I’ve never seen one like you before.”

Pink immediately felt self conscious of himself. After his Steven had died he’d become corrupted. His hands and feet had changed color, permanently looking like they were stained pink and his fingertips now ended in claws. He had dark pink bruises under his eyes from him crying on and off for years. And the horns on his head stood out like thorns on a rose. 

He hadn’t cared much before, but now _this_ Steven was looking at him and could see the shameful, ugly corruption he’d become.

Steven frowned a little, his dark eyes soft with concern, “Hey, I don’t think you’re _ugly_ , besides your horns are pretty!” He smiled sweetly, “they look like little quartz stones.”

Pink was too busy panicking to realize Steven had heard his thoughts. He didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t planned for this. And now he was face to face with the only person he cared about more than anything and he was overwhelmed. 

This world’s Steven looked very similar yet at the same time different. He looked older than sixteen but still obviously a young adult. His jaw was just a bit more angular and the curve of his cheek not as pronounced. This Steven’s hair was different too, his hair was cut shorter and more styled instead of the thick halo of curls he had worn in Pink’s reality.  
  
These slight differences didn’t negate the fact that Pink wanted him though. Didn’t detract from the fact that this was his Steven. 

No, not his, not his. His was gone, and Pink would never have him back. 

“Why don’t you come out so we can talk?” Steven said in that same gentle voice, like he was talking to a wild animal. “How come you shapeshifted to look like me? Not that I’m upset about it! I just-”

_I didn’t shapeshift._

Steven blinked. “You...you didn’t?” He rubbed his head. “Um, wait. Did I just hear your voice in my mind?”

Pink was alarmed at that question, he was going to answer but then heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and sensed the vibration of the floor as someone neared Steven’s bedroom.

Pink, unsure of what to do, scrambled off the bed and hid underneath it. At once he started cursing at himself, why hadn’t he just run out the room and jumped off the balcony?!

Steven crouched down and peered under the bed at Pink with an amused smile.

“C’mon, bud. I _swear_ I won’t hurt you. I can tell you’re nice, so let’s talk.”

Pink froze when he heard the door to Steven’s bedroom open.

“Sweetie, dinner’s ready! Oh, are you looking for something?” A strange voice asked.

Steven sat up. “I’m talking to the pink gem that looks like me under the bed.”

There was a pause followed by a burst of laughter, “You’re so _creative_ , Steven! Anyway, come down for dinner when you’re done talking to your _friend._ We got pizza!”

“‘Kay, mom.” Steven said before the door closed. 

Pink floundered. That had been Rose Quartz’s voice. She was _alive_ in this reality? How was that possible?

Steven leaned to look at him under the bed. “Are you going to keep hiding under there?”

Pink nodded mutely. 

Steven sighed but didn’t argue. “Okay, I’m going to get some food, I’ll bring some up to you.”

Pink watched silently as Steven stood up and crossed the room. He waited until Steven’s footsteps were halfway down the stairs before he bolted out from under the bed and fled off the balcony.  
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.  
  


Pink was crouched on the railing of the lighthouse, and staring down at Steven’s house pensively.

He needed to go back to his home now. That had been the entire point of this right?

That was why he had jumped between worlds. 

Pink had accidentally figured out that when he screamed at a specific frequency, he was able to rip open a tear through the fabric of reality. It had been how he got here in the first place. He hadn’t understood how he was able to do it, but he supposed Lion’s ability to teleport was somewhat similar. The difference was Lion was able to warp through space, Pink was able to warp through space and time. 

All he’d wanted to do with that power was make sure that Steven was still alive somewhere, safe and happy with his family. 

Even if his wasn’t. 

He tucked his knees against his chest. He needed to go home. Back to the gems. Back to...what?

What was waiting for him? After Steven had died he almost never left his room. Occasionally he went to the place Steven had been buried and slept there, trying to imagine he could still feel the connection between them. Of course, that was only a delusion of Pink’s grief haunted mind. 

He didn’t belong here, though. Tears burned at his eyes, feeling the hopelessness of the situation sink into him. 

“Hello?” An intimately familiar voice said behind him.

Pink flinched and looked behind him from his perch on the lighthouse railing. 

Something squeezed tight in his chest when he saw Steven standing there, smiling. He had apparently climbed the steps of the lighthouse. Pink must have been so deep his his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed. How had Steven even known to look for him here?

“I _saw_ you up here.” Steven said with a slight laugh. “Did you know that you _glow_? It’s really not hard to find you at night.”

Pink’s eyes were wide as he drank this world’s Steven in. He was like a beacon of light that he couldn’t help be drawn to. He wanted to bury himself in that irresistible warmth and keep him safe, safe from anything that would ever hurt him.

He watched as Steven’s cheeks turned red in a rosy blush. 

“Um. Wow. That’s... _intense_. Have we met somewhere? I don’t typically forget a gem I’ve met before.”

Pink shook his head. _No._

And it was true, this world’s Steven had never met him. 

“I know it’s not my business.” Steven said. “But it seems like you’re really hurting. I know I’m just a human but I help corrupted gems all the time! Or, I try to help as much as I can, I guess.” He stepped forward, his hands up and palms out in a gesture of peace. “Obviously you understand me, so can’t we just talk?”

Pink only barely resisted the urge to reach out and snatch Steven to hold him close like he wanted. Instead he sunk his claws into the metal railing underneath him. 

_Mine._ He thought to himself, unable to control his feelings. It was an anxious desperation that gnawed at him and tore him apart. 

Steven’s eyes widened and the flush on his cheeks deepened. Pink almost convinced himself he could feel the heat of his blush from where he was. He was disgusting. How could he feel like this? He’d never felt this way about his other half. This warped, toxic possessiveness he could feel burning at the facets of his gem. 

“Um...Are you _sure_ we haven’t met?” Steven asked in bewilderment. 

Pink felt a mix of frustration and anger unlike what he’d ever known. Because Steven was right _here_. And Pink had to leave him and go back to where he came from. 

This had been a terrible decision. This was torture. Every atom in his body seemed to be screaming that this Steven was his but he wasn’t. He had his own gem, his own life. 

Pink couldn’t stay here like this, couldn’t cope with being so close to Steven yet unable to have him. Since he’d become corrupted, Pink had become more erratic. He didn’t trust himself, didn’t trust his own self control. 

Pink started to turn with the intention of jumping off the lighthouse. He was mid spring when arms were around his waist and pulling him backwards from the railing.

“Are you out of your _mind_?!” Steven asked furiously as he yanked Pink back with him into the lighthouse. “I know you’re a gem but we’re over two hundred feet up!” Steven stumbled and they both fell backwards into a pile on the floor, but he hadn’t let go of Pink. 

Pink could have easily broken out of Steven’s hold, but found himself unable to even conceive of trying to get away.

Because Steven was holding him, his chest against Pink’s back and he was so incredibly soft, and warm, and _alive._

He could smell Steven’s scent, and it was intoxicating. Could feel the atoms in his body practically sing with how right it felt to be touching him. 

Pink couldn’t stop the broken whimper that escaped his mouth, or the tears that fell from his eyes. 

He really, truly should never have come here. Because now it was impossible to tear himself away. How could he return back home, when all that waited for him was emptiness and Steven’s cold room?

Steven turned him around at the sound of his crying so Pink had to face Steven and see his kind face worried over him. 

“I’m so sorry!” Steven said frantically as he rubbed Pink’s back, “ I just panicked when I saw you about to jump off the railing, oh jeez, did I _hurt_ you?! I didn’t think it was even _possible_ for humans to hurt gems!” 

Pink sniffed, his mind muddled from the surge of his own emotions but still cognizant enough to be confused at Steven’s words.

_Human?_

“Uh, yeah. I’m a human. Have you...have you never met a human before?”

Pink stared.

_You’re a gem._

“Oh! Um, no? I feel like I’d know if I was? I mean, my mom’s a gem but my dad is a human and so am I.” He reached out and rubbed the tears from Pink’s cheek. “Like I said, I didn’t think humans could hurt gems, are you alright?”

Pink felt something short circuit in his mind. 

Steven gave a squeak of surprise when Pink’s hand was suddenly pushing under his shirt. 

“Wait! Don’t- I’m ticklish!” He tried to squirm away through his peal of giggles but of course he was no match for Pink’s strength.

Because Steven was right. He was a human. 

He now realized why this Steven felt different to him, a bit strange but not exactly in a bad way. Like something familiar turned sideways. 

This Steven didn’t have a gem. Instead of a gem, he had a navel, just like any other human.

Confused, Pink gently ran his hand over the soft curve of Steven’s stomach which only elicited more giggles from him. 

“C’mon, I said _stop_! It’s not fair that you’re using your gem strength!”

Pink barely heard him, as at that moment his mind was frantically scrambling to decipher what this meant.

This Steven didn’t have a gem. What did that mean? Nothing, right? Pink still had to leave. Of course he did, he didn’t belong. He stared down at his clawed, pink hand which stood out in stark contrast against Steven’s skin. 

Steven had calmed down from his laughter and was looking up at Pink curiously. “So, why did you think I was a gem?”

Pink pulled his hand away. His eyes still stared at where Steven’s gem should have been.

“I have to leave.” Pink heard himself say softly.

He hadn’t spoken in years. It was Steven’s voice, and even the corruption hadn’t changed the dulcet tone of it. He’d stopped talking because it had brought up too many feelings. Couldn’t stand having some part of Steven like that if he couldn’t be fused with him like he was supposed to be. 

Steven sat up now that he wasn’t pinned under Pink’s hand. His expression was confused, his brows furrowing as he stared at Pink. 

“...Your voice. It, it sounds a lot like mine? I didn’t know gem’s could change their voices, though.”

Pink bit down on his lip so hard it burned.

“Who are you?” Steven asked gently. “Seriously, I can hear your thoughts- . And you keep talking about me like you know me but you keep saying you don’t, and I-.” 

Steven scooted closer to him, his dark eyes gazing into Pink’s. “This is going to sound really weird, but, I feel like you-” 

He searched for the words, “I feel like you _belong_ to me?” He anxiously ran a hand through his hair, tousling the brown curls. “That’s completely crazy though right? We’re strangers! I’ve never met you before in my life!”

Pink felt his eyes widen at his words. Something sparked inside of him, but he didn’t dare to inspect the feeling too closely. 

Steven nervously licked his lip, “When I first found you in my bed, and saw you sleeping, my mind instantly said _‘that’s mine’_. It was like I’d found something I’d lost or missing but didn’t know it.”

Pink shivered. “You’re not crazy.” He said softly in the space between them. “I feel the same.”

“Will you tell me who you are, and where you’re from?” Steven asked.

Pink was scared. “It’s not a happy story.”

“That’s okay.” Steven said. “I still want to hear it. But only if you _want_ to tell me.”

Pink shook his head. “Not now.” He couldn’t bear the thought, maybe someday he could. His Steven had died ten years ago to the day but the trauma was still fresh in his mind. 

Steven’s cold, corpse in the grass. Dark blood choking his throat as he died from being severed nearly in half. The crystal gems sobbing over him. Pink’s own hands literally ripping Spinel apart and reducing her gem to fractured shards. The cheerful yellow buttercup flowers painted with the dark red of Steven’s blood. 

The funeral, filled with somber faces and tears. Steven’s lifeless body, cleaned, sewn back together, and dressed in a black suit before being laid in a silk lined coffin. The perfect crystal white roses his friends, family, and all the gems of earth and Homeworld lay around him until they overflowed his coffin and piled on the floor around him like a fragrant cloud. 

“I can’t,” Pink choked out. 

“That’s fine, but I’ll listen if you’re ever ready to.” Steven said. 

Pink flinched when he felt Steven’s fingers gently stroke through his hair. 

He jerked his head up, and Steven pulled his hand back quickly, apologetic. “Sorry! I just- You were sad and I wanted to- I should have asked first, though.” He sighed in exasperation at himself. “Amethyst says I’m really touchy-feely, she’s right.”

Pink hadn’t recoiled from the touch because he had hated it. He’d just been startled. He hadn’t allowed anyone to touch him since the day he was literally ripped away from Steven by Spinel’s sythe. 

Now the sensation of Steven’s hand on him was all he wanted. He wanted it so much his gem _ached_. 

“ _Please_ ,” Pink said in a shaking voice. “Please, again?”

Slowly, Steven reached out and caressed his fingertips over Pink’s cheek. Pink eagerly leaned his face into his soft touch, wanting more. 

His eyes overflowed with tears and he felt himself reaching out for this Steven who was alive, and here in front of him, and so, so _warm.  
  
_ Pink wrapped his arms around him and Steven gave a cute, surprised sound but didn’t resist the embrace. Instead he reached up and hugged Pink back, who sobbed into his shoulder, his body shuddering with breaths he didn’t need to take.

Steven settled them back against a wall, letting Pink sit in his lap so he could curl around him the way he wanted so their chests were touching and he could feel his heart beat. 

Pink didn’t know how long he cried for, and in fact he must have fallen asleep because he woke up still stubbornly clinging to Steven only now they were situated on the lighthouse’s couch.

Steven was laying under him and gently combing his fingers through Pinks hair, idly humming a familiar song. 

“You awake?” Steven asked.

Pink nuzzled his face into Steven’s neck, mindful that his horns didn’t scrape him.

“It’s okay, they’re not that sharp.” Steven said before giving a short laugh, “You already bonked me a couple times with them when you were sleeping.”

“Sorry.” Pink said sheepishly. 

“You don’t have to apologize, it didn’t hurt.” Steven reassured. Pink felt Steven’s hand move to touch one of them. “They’re so pretty.”

Pink sighed, languishing in this affection that Steven generously gave him. 

“Are you still planning to leave?” Steven asked. “You said that you had to, earlier.”

Pink tensed. 

_No._

There was no way he could now. His fingers clenched on the fabric of Steven’s shirt and clung to him tightly. He’d only known him for a few minutes but even after such a precious, short time with him, there was no way he could go back to his empty, cold reality now. The very notion was inconceivable. 

“I don't want you to leave either.” Steven said, his arms squeezing Pink gently. “We’ll have to figure out what we’re going to tell my family, but I know it’ll be okay.”

“You really want me to stay here?” Pink asked, unable to believe that the stars had blessed him with this miracle of a second chance. 

Steven reached out to cup Pink’s face in his hand. “Of course I do.” His thumb stroked Pink’s cheek. “Like I said, you feel like you’re mine. And I know you feel the same about me. I don’t want you to be alone and sad anymore, so I want you to stay.” He quickly added, “But only if that’s what makes you _happy_.”

“It does.” Pink said, feeling the warmth of Steven’s words.

He turned his face to kiss the palm of Steven’s hand, relishing in the feeling that he was finally home where he belonged. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.


	2. Can We Just Talk?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven tries to unknot the tangled story of Pink’s origins. 
> 
> The operative word here is 'tries'.

Legally speaking, while it was accessible to anyone in Beach City, Steven’s dad owned the lighthouse. He’d bought it using money from his music royalties, and with Bismuth’s help, had it patched up and restored. 

It had become something of a hideaway for Steven, so it wasn’t unusual for him to sleepover in the lighthouse overnight on the worn blue couch he’d bought from a second hand store. It had become a place for him to escape to when he wanted his own space and his family respected that.

So when Steven woke and realized he was in the lighthouse, he didn’t think anything was amiss. He fuzzily considered just drifting back off to sleep, it wasn’t like he had any scheduled plans today. 

He was cuddling with a large pillow that was warm and fragranced with the scent of fresh roses. Steven gave a sleepy groan and wrapped his arms around it, snuggling the sweet smelling pillow closer. 

The pillow made a purring noise and nuzzled into his neck. 

When Steven felt something _hard_ digging into his chin, like the point of a knife or a spear, he fully woke up and realized there was a strange gem he didn’t know sleeping on top of him.

Every hair immediately stood up on his head. 

The training his mom, Bismuth, and Pearl had put him through came to him in a rush as the adrenaline flooded his veins.

Steven inhaled, got his arms under the body above him, and shoved with all his strength, ignoring the unknown gem’s cry of surprise. As soon as he managed to force them off of him, Steven did a neat roll off the couch, ending back up on his feet.

He didn’t have a weapon, _stupid stupid stupid_. Steven’s sword was back in his room on the wall where he’d hung it up last night. So were his star knuckles. He had his lightshield ring on him but that worked best for defence and distance. 

Feeling his pulse throbbing in his ears he sharply turned towards the stairs only to knock into some sort of pink barrier that looked like it was made of a light shield. He reflexively punched it (reckless, he wasn’t wearing his knuckles) and it repelled him, making him fall back onto the floor with an undignified squawk. 

Steven quickly stood back up and realized that he hadn’t bumped into a wall, but some sort of bubble like what his gem family used to contain corrupted gems. Only, it wasn’t a bubble but instead was made out of pentagons and diamonds and wrapped around him like a dome. 

Steven blinked at the barrier in surprise, and reached his hand out to touch it. It looked very similar to his light shield that he could summon from the ring his mom and Bismuth made for him. He touched the glowing, glass-like surface which hummed with energy and made his fingertips tingle. 

“S-Steven-”

The sound of his name made him whip around to see a corrupted gem crouched on the couch, her- no _his_ face streaked with tears. 

_Steven, Steven don’t- stay don’t leave, don’t leave my Steven please please please_

Oh.

It came back to Steven in a rush. The gem he’d found in his bed last night- how Steven had asked him to stay. They must have both fallen asleep on the couch together. Steven remembered how he sang the gem to sleep. 

“Oh, oh my gosh!” Steven said, feeling awful. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to push you away, I just-” He scrambled for an excuse for his behavior. “I’m not used to someone sleeping next to me- or on me- I just _panicked_!”

The pink gem eyed him uncertainty, his claws digging into the cushions.

_You’re not angry?_ The gem asked. 

“ _No_! Like I said, I was startled!” Steven replied insistently. 

The pink gem looked anxious as he slowly got off the couch and took a tentative step towards Steven. The gem was eyeing him with a hungry sort of desperation, and Steven could feel his fear. Not fear of Steven hurting him, but fear that he would leave. 

Steven felt his own pulse calming down and tried to give a reassuring smile. 

“Drop the shield, I _promise_ I’m not going anywhere.”

The shapes that comprised the dome-like shield started to shrink in on themselves before they disappeared entirely. 

As soon as the barrier was gone, arms that felt like warm bands of iron wrapped around Steven. The gem was shaking, and Steven’s heart splintered at the panic emanating from the gem. 

Steven bit his lip, feeling awful as he remembered bodily throwing the smaller gem away from him.

“Hey, it’s okay, c’mere.” He leaned down and easily scooped the gem up into his arms.

Steven trained with the gems and had built up a considerable amount of strength over the years because of it. He was used to picking up a gem in the middle of battle if needed, and hefting the extra weight was second nature to him at this point. But he was surprised when this strange gem barely weighed anything. 

Honestly, Spinel was skinny as a rail and even _she_ weighed more than this gem who was almost the same size as Steven. Shelving his questions for later, Steven walked back over to the couch and pulled the trembling gem into his lap.

“I’m sorry, for freaking you out. I honestly woke up and I was just really confused, that’s all.”

The gem pushed his teary face into Steven’s neck and rasped,

“Don’t leave. _Please_?”

His voice was hoarse, not just from emotions but like he was unused to talking. It was a little odd that it sounded so much like his, but 

Steven decided not to dwell on that. It wasn’t important right now. 

“Shh. I’m not, I promise.” Steven replied. 

_I’m sorry_

“What- why are you sorry?” Steven laid down and turned them, so that the gem was sandwiched between him and the couch. The pink gem clung to him, trying to pull Steven as close to him as he possibly could.

_I used my shield on you, you got hurt, you fell down, I’m_ **_sorry_ ** _, I won’t do it again._

Steven decided to stroke his fingers through the pink curls of his hair, which had helped soothe him last night.

“You didn’t hurt me, I’m fine. And I know you were just scared. _I’m_ sorry for pushing you like that, did I hurt you? 

The pink gem shook his head. _No_

“Okay, good.”

After enough gentle petting, he felt the gem relax the vice like grip on him until he was nearly boneless against him.

Steven was alarmed at how quickly he had bonded with this strange gem. He’d tried to put words to the feelings last night as best he could. 

It felt like this gem belonged to him, like he was supposed to _be_ with him. Like he’d been going through life using a single hand only to one day wake up and realize he had another one the entire time. 

“Better?” Steven asked. 

The gem peaked up at him, almost shy. 

Steven felt what could only be described as a wave of love wash over him. It nearly knocked the breath out of him and he realized it was this gem’s _feelings_ for him. 

Steven apparently was able to sense some of his thoughts, emotions. He didn’t know why though. He also didn’t understand the absolute unconditional love he could feel resonating from this strange little gem. Furthermore, Steven didn’t get why he trusted this gem so instinctively. He’d never met this gem before last night.  
  
By all accounts Steven should be wary of the gem. But Steven couldn’t find it in himself to feel anything but trust for him.

Because something inside of himself, like an instinct he’d forgotten that had risen to the surface, told him he was safe. This gem wouldn’t hurt him, wouldn’t betray him.

He sighed. “Okay. I know I said you didn’t have to tell me everything, that happened to you. You said it was sad. But I need you to give me _something_ here. You know me. You know my name, and I can tell that you have some really strong feelings for me. I just don’t understand _why_.”

The gem didn’t respond, and Steven could feel the reluctance that simmered beneath the surface.

“C’mon, bud.” he sighed. “I’m going to have to show you to my family soon, I _suck_ at keeping secrets from them. They’ll only be okay with you if I can prove you’re not dangerous.”

The gem stubbornly pushed his face into Steven’s shoulder.

That didn’t deter him. Steven had gentled Spinel through plenty of her pouty moods over the years. A sullen, withdrawn gem didn’t phase him. 

“Okay. How about your name? I don’t know it still, seems fair for you to give me at least that, right?”

“You can call me Pink...Agate.” His new friend said.

“Pink Agate?” Steven asked. 

“Yes.”

Steven wasn’t buying it. He could feel guilt radiating from Pink and was willing to bet his favorite broadsword that wasn’t true, but this gem was stubborn as Ruby. 

Steven pulled away a little to look at him. “Okay. Pink Agate. I’ve never met an agate before. Mom said that they were used to terrorize and intimidate the gems that served under them.” Steven tilted his head. “You don’t seem very scary though.”

Pink’s eyes ducked down. “I can be when I want.”

Steven smiled teasingly, “Is that so?” 

“Yes.”

“Okay, fine. How about the next question, you know me but we’ve never met.”

Pink shifted uncomfortably, and his thoughts were a storm of discomfort and anxiety.

_I don’t want to talk about this._

“We don’t have to talk, then. Just, just give me a yes or no answer, if you can. To clarify, you know who I am.”

“....Yes.”

“But we’ve never met?”

“...No.”

“Do you know about my family, the Crystal Gems?

“Yes.”

Steven felt a strange twinge, but it was too fast to examine the feeling Pink gave off. Steven hesitated but pressed on. 

“Were you part of the gem rebellion?”

“No.”

“Oh, so you’re a Homeworld gem?”

“ _No._ I was born on Earth.”

Steven blinked. “Earth? But you aren’t aligned with the Crystal Gems or Homeworld. Who are you loyal to, then?”

Pink tightened his grip on Steven. “Myself.”

Well.

“Okay, that’s fair.” He said.

Pink gazed up into his eyes, before they darted back away like he was scared Steven would be able to see the truth if he looked too long. Steven could only feel a tempest of emotion, and his thoughts were too muddled for him to distinguish between them. 

Steven sighed. He could play twenty questions all day, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t get much further. It was obvious that Pink had been through something _incredibly_ traumatic. It would just take time and no small amount of patience, he ventured. 

But first, he had to talk to his family.

Steven pushed his face in the soft curls of Pink’s hair and groaned loudly, making Pink twitch in surprise. 

Pearl would hit the roof when she found out Steven had been metaphorically baring his neck for some random gem he’d just met. A corrupted gem too, no less. He didn’t even want to think about Bismuth’s or his mom’s reactions. The three of them would likely lecture him until his ears fell off. They’d chastise him for trusting someone he didn’t know, even though Pink didn’t feel like a stranger. 

“I'm sorry.” Pink said, breaking the silence. And he was being honest, Steven could feel his remorse. Also his fear. “I can’t talk about it, not yet.”

Steven squeezed him. “You don’t need to apologize for anything, It’s okay. I want to understand you though, and possibly help you. Maybe someday you can tell me though.”

“...Maybe.”

Steven dropped the topic and spent the next few minutes quietly carding his fingers through Pink’s hair. Gradually he could feel the hum of contented pleasure resonate from Pink as he relaxed. It floored Steven just how much this gem craved his attention and touch. 

That was alright, stars knew Steven had enough excess love to go around. And he liked this too. He liked being able to comfort Pink when he was upset, something beyond his own general empathy compelled him to. 

The gems would likely have a problem with this whole situation though. 

Steven decided it would be best if he got his story straight. “Okay. So. I can’t lie to my family, I’m terrible at it and I’ve never liked lying anyway. However, we can _tweak_ it a little so maybe they don’t freak out as much.” 

He hummed in thought, “Yesterday I found you sleeping in my room and didn’t tell them, if they find that out, Garnet will put a bubble around me for a month.”

Pink reached up to touch the row of piercings on Steven’s ear. He fiddled with the star earring, spinning it around. “What are you going to tell them?”

“I’m going to tell them that I met you on the beach when I went for a walk last night. I saw that you were scared and you ran to the lighthouse. I went after you and we talked and I realized you weren’t dangerous.You can tell them that you-”

_No._

Steven raised his eyebrows. “What?”

_I won’t talk to them._

“Um, You won’t-”

_Only you. I’ll only talk to you._

Steven frowned. “Only me? But why?”

Pink clammed up again, and Steven sensed his stubbornness rising back to the surface.

“...Okay. That’s okay then.” 

Steven didn’t understand the emotion he felt surge up inside himself when Pink said he’s only talk to Steven. He knew what it felt like to be protective of someone, and this wasn’t it. This feeling was deeper, more visceral than that. At first he thought he was feeling Pink’s emotions, but no. It was coming from within himself.

Steven mentally shook it off. He could unpack that later. For now, he needed to take a shower and probably drink some coffee. 

“Okay, let’s go, Pink.”

Pink audibly whined when Steven started getting off the couch. It was adorable and he fought the grin that threatened to curl his mouth. 

“C’mon, bud.” Steven said coaxingly as Pink groused. “If I lay on the couch anymore I’ll get a crick in my neck. I’m out of rose essence so mom will henpeck me about it before she lets me go to the fountain to get more rose water. Which reminds me, I need to go there anyway to heal my shoulder.”

“Your shoulder?” Pink said, looking up at him with a frown. At once he started fretting, “Is it hurt because I made you fall?!”

“Oh! No, it wasn’t your fault!” Steven reassured. He rolled his left shoulder, feeling the uncomfortable ache that made the muscle twinge, “I wrenched it yesterday when my family and I were trying to catch this one gem but she got away.”

He pushed the sleeve of his shirt up, revealing an ugly, mottled purple bruise that covered his shoulder. Yikes, it looked worse than he thought it would. “So, I need to get some of mom’s fountain water to heal it.”

_I can heal you._ Pink thought.

Steven raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Um, you can?” 

The only gem he knew who could heal was his mom. Was it because they were both pink gems? Wait, no. Spinel was a pink gem and _she_ couldn’t heal. 

Pink nodded, “I can.”

“I mean, you don’t have to. I wouldn’t ask you to-”

_I want to._ Pink insisted.

Steven had started to sit up but Pink climbed onto his lap before pushing him back to lay down on the couch. 

Oh. Wow, _okay._

He fidgeted under Pink’s intense gaze, his fuschia eyes nearly glowing. 

“What, um, what do you want me to do?” Steven asked tentatively. 

To heal him, his mom had to cry and allow the tears to fall on him. She’d gotten very good over the years at doing it on the fly given how often he got hurt on their missions. As he got older, he started bottling the water from her fountain and kept it in a spray diffuser on hand so she didn’t have to keep crying over him. 

Steven really didn’t want to see this little gem cry on him. He didn’t think he’d be able to bear it. 

Pink’s bright eyes were staring down at him and Steven felt his face warm. 

“So, how do you heal-”

Lips pressed against his and Steven inhaled in surprise.

Pink slanted their mouths together and Steven closed his eyes as he accepted the kiss. 

It felt good. It felt better than good, _perfect_ even.

It was what it felt like to come home after a hard mission. To wake up in his warm bed on a winter morning. Watching a glowing full moon rise in the sky.

He groaned softly and Pink took the chance to press his tongue into Steven’s mouth. 

Oh, _stars_. 

Steven felt the sharp ache in his shoulder fade as he wrapped his arms around Pink to pull him down flush against him. He tangled his fingers in Pink’s curls as he inhaled the heady fragrance of nectar sweet roses. 

It was when he heard Pink make a soft noise that Steven realized what he was doing and immediately let go of him like he’d been burned.

“Sorry!” Steven exclaimed, pulling his hands back to himself. Because of course Pink hadn’t been _actually_ kissing him, that was just how his powers must work. Like how Garnet kissed Steven’s forehead to let him borrow her future vision.

Pink didn’t look upset though. He titled his head. 

_Why?_

“Because I _grabbed_ you!” Steven replied, ashamed at his own behavior.

He’d pulled Pink to him and hadn’t wanted to let go. 

Steven didn’t have an excuse other than he’d forgotten himself because of how nice it had felt and he’d been unprepared for it. Even now, his heart was pounding. Dazedly, Steven realized that was the _first_ time he’d ever been kissed on the mouth. 

Pink seemed to be unconcerned with Steven’s inner turmoil and took Steven’s hands in his to make him touch his face. “You can do it as much as you like, I won’t get mad.”

Steven’s face burned. “Oh.”

His logical side told him that was wildly inappropriate and out of the question. However he felt that _feeling_ surge up through him again. The pull that said Pink was right, because he was Steven’s and they belonged to each other. 

Pink leaned into his touch, smiling sweetly before he turned his head to softly kiss the palm of Steven’s hand. 

“...Me too.” Steven said in the small space between them.

Pink raised his eyebrows, “ _Mmm_?”

“I don’t mind either, when you hold me.” He met Pink’s eyes shyly, “It feels nice.”

Pink’s face lit up and he leaned forward to bump their foreheads together gently, being mindful that his quartz shaped horns didn’t poke Steven.

Steven was being an idiot. He’d known this gem for a day and in that span of time, Steven had made one poor choice after another. 

He should have told the gems when he found a strange, corrupted gem in his bed. Shouldn’t have gone running after him, shouldn’t have spent the night alone with him, _cuddling._

As Pink settled back down though, tucking his face under Steven’s chin with a contented sigh, Steven still didn’t feel like he was wrong. 

He patted Pink’s shoulder, sensing the gem’s intentions. He’d never met a gem that liked cuddles as much as this one. “Nice try. We still need to get up now though.”

“Ten more minutes.” Pink grumbled. 

“ _Five._ ” Steven countered. “I want coffee, soon. Or I’m gonna get a caffeine deprived headache.”

_I could just heal that for you._

“ _Pink._ ”

Pink huffed. “Okay.”

Steven was glad Pink’s face was stubbornly pushed into his chest so he wouldn’t see the blush that burned across his face. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

_Twenty_ minutes later, Steven managed to finally untangle from Pink’s clutches and successfully got off the couch.

He’d actually fallen back asleep, much to his embarrassment. Probably would have slept for longer if his phone’s alarm hadn’t gone off. He blamed Pink for that. The gem was warm as candlelight and smelled like a rose garden in summer. It was impossible not to relax with Pink curled up against him. 

“Okay, come on.” He started to walk towards the stairs but Pink reached out and grabbed the edge of his shirt. 

_We don’t have to take the stairs._

“I know _you_ don’t but _I_ do. I’m not a gem, bud. I can’t jump two hundred feet and be okay.”

Pink put his arms around him, insistent. 

_I can carry you. You won’t get hurt._

Steven smiled knowingly. “You just wanna do that so you can hold me more.”

Pink raised his eyebrows like Steven was being unreasonable. “Well, yes.”

Wow.

Obviously, Pink had no trouble with hiding his feelings about _that_ at least. 

Steven struggled not to blush as he let Pink effortlessly pick him up. 

“Okay, fine. But I’m totally gonna scream like a little kid and you can’t laugh at me. Free-falling always makes my stomach feel weird.”

Pink nodded as he hopped up onto the railing of the lighthouse and without any hesitation, stepped off of it with Steven in his arms.

Steven clenched his teeth as he prepared himself for the sudden, rushing pull of gravity that would leave him breathless and clutched Pink’s shoulders. 

When it didn’t happen he peaked an eye open and realized they weren’t falling but were gently drifting down instead.

“Um. We’re _floating_?” Steven asked in surprise. 

“Yes. You said you didn’t like falling, it makes you feel sick.” Pink replied, shifting his grip on Steven so he was more secure. 

“Oh.” He relaxed his body and the grip he’d had on Pink’s shoulders. “You didn’t have to do that, but thank you.”

Pink nuzzled his cheek against Steven’s, “I don’t want you to feel bad. Especially not with me.”

Steven didn’t know what to say. 

So instead he nodded and enjoyed the scenery as they floated down towards his room’s balcony. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Steven was glad he had left his balcony door open last night as he quietly snuck Pink into his room.

“Okay. I don’t know if my family is here or not right now. So do you mind staying in here? Hide if you hear someone coming up the stairs. ”

Pink nodded, and turned like he was going to sit on Steven’s bed before he seemed to change his mind and awkwardly stood by his desk instead.

Steven fought back a giggle, remembering how the gem had bolted under the bed back when they first met. 

“It’s okay, if you want to sit on the bed I don’t mind. I’ll be right back.”

_Okay._ Pink answered in his mind. 

Was it weird that Steven was already used to that? He should probably find it invasive, like anyone else probably would, but he didn’t. 

Steven took a cautious step down the stairs from his room and listened. When he didn’t hear the familiar din of his family talking he walked down the full length of stairs. 

He stepped down and went to the kitchen to check the refrigerator . On it, was a laminated paper with a T-chart divided into two sides. The blue side said ‘Home’ and the pink side said ‘Out’. Each gem’s face along with his and his dad’s were on a magnet. 

When he was little, Amethyst had gone somewhere by herself without telling them and gotten cracked by a rogue, corrupted gem. His family hadn’t even realized she’d left, and assumed she was holed up in her room as she sometimes did when she wanted time to herself. 

They hadn’t found her until days later when she managed to crawl back to the warp pad and arrive back at home, unable to walk and talking erratically. His mom had healed her of course, but Steven had been six years old at the time and it had been horrifying to see the gem he thought of as his sister falling apart and in agony. 

After that Steven would get frantically upset when he didn’t know if the gems were on a mission or if they were safely in Beach City or in their rooms. He’d beg his mom to check on them to be safe, and then to double check. The thought that Amethyst had been alone, scared, and in pain without their family gave him nightmares for weeks. 

So Pearl came up with the Check-In chart. And the gems immediately used it religiously when they went on missions, much to his relief. Most of them had cell phones now that they used to communicate with each other also, but they still used the chart out of habit. 

His dad was still touring with Sadie and the Suspects so his magnet was on the ‘out’ side. 

All of the gems magnets were also on ‘out’. Last night during dinner Garnet had mentioned a couple new missions but Steven wouldn’t be able to go with them due to his human physiology. They’d probably left this morning and likely wouldn’t be back until later that afternoon, depending on how it went.

He typed a text to Amethyst to be sure, asking how the mission was going. She replied quickly like she always did with him. First she whined that Pearl was a boring nerd but confirmed that they’d just left a little while ago so they hadn’t even really started yet. Steven told her to be safe and slid the phone back into his pocket. 

So they definitely had a few hours before the gems got back. 

Steven got out his favorite mug, a turquoise one with a star. After a moment of hesitation he pulled out a second one. Pink had said he didn’t want anything, but it would be rude to still not offer. Some of the gems liked to eat, Bismuth didn’t but she liked when Steven made her coffee because she enjoyed the fragrance of it. 

If Pink didn’t drink it, it was fine. 

As he poured some ground beans into the coffee maker, Steven dwelled on the gem. 

Especially his powers. 

Healing. Creating a shield. Floating. 

Those powers were all intimately familiar to Steven. They were the same as his _mom’_ s. 

He pressed the brew button on the coffee maker. The only thing was, he didn’t understand. He’d felt Pink’s guilt when he’d told Steven he was a Pink Agate. 

Which implied he was lying. 

Maybe Pink was just _confused_ ? Maybe he was actually a _Rose Quartz_ gem? 

When he was younger, Pearl explained that gems burst from the ground already knowing their purpose and their identity.

_Amethyst_ hadn’t been like that though. She had come out late, and was directionless with no sure purpose. She had stayed in the kindergarten until his mom had found her.

And to his knowledge, Agates were formidable warriors. His mother had taught him they were often generals or commanders for Homeworld and their purpose was to dominate and terrorize. Being able to heal and float didn’t match an agate's inherent purpose. 

But, his mom was a Rose Quartz. She was supposed to be an elite soldier. Instead, she’d lead the rebellion to save the earth. Her powers didn’t match her intended role as a soldier either. 

There _had_ been agates who’d betrayed Homeworld to side with the Crystal Gems. Bismuth spoke fondly of Crazy Lace and Blue Lace Agate, both who’d fought in the war with his mother before they’d been corrupted. Crazy Lace was a fusion, but Blue Lace Agate had once commanded an armada for Blue Diamond before she defected and took her place on his mother’s side of the war. 

Steven sighed. He needed to stop. Steven liked mysteries. But this wasn’t just a puzzle it was Pink’s _life_. He’d promised Pink that he’d leave him alone about his past. If he was hiding something painful, it was his right to do that. Just like how his dad never liked talking about his own parents. 

The coffee was ready and Steven pulled the glass carafe out from the coffee maker.

Steven took out some cream and sugar, fixing up his coffee the way he liked it. He took a sip of it and sighed, imagining the caffeine was flooding his brain.   
  
Steven tapped his fingertips anxiously against his coffee mug as he stared at the empty one he’d set out for Pink. 

He needed to cook something. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

After Steven left, Pink resisted the urge for approximately five seconds before he gave in and sat down on the familiar bed. At least he stopped himself from burrowing under the covers. 

He compromised by holding one of Steven’s pillows to his chest. 

Steven was downstairs, and it was very strange, but Pink could sense him. He could tell Steven was in the kitchen, likely making coffee as he’d mentioned earlier. 

Pink felt an acrid tang of anxiety from Steven and figured _he_ was likely the cause of it. 

He hated lying to Steven. But how on earth would he begin to explain himself?

Back in his world, the gems had tried to talk him through his grief. He’d spurned all their attempts, refusing to talk about it. Unable to.

He had existed in a fugue state almost. He’d barely left Steven’s room, and when he wasn’t in his room he was at his grave. 

After the gems gave up on trying to reach him anymore, they would watch him with stricken expressions the rare times he _did_ leave the room. As if Pink was a ghost who was haunting their house. 

Steven deserved to hear the truth but the fact was that Pink wasn’t strong enough to tell him yet.  
  
He pushed his face into the pillow and let the scent calm him down. 

Pink felt a familiar warmth near him and then fingers combing through his hair. 

“You okay, bud?” Steven asked in concern. 

Pink looked up and Steven was standing next to him, a worried expression on his face.

“Did you hear me?” Steven asked. 

Pink blinked. _Yes, you asked if I was okay. I’m fine._

Steven had a troubled frown. “Yeah, but I said your name like three times before that. You didn’t hear me?”

How long had Pink been withdrawing for? _Oh._

“S’okay, don’t worry about it.” Steven had a pink mug with an image of Cookie Cat on it. 

“You want some coffee? It’s got cream and sugar in it. If you don’t like it I can make it a different way.”

Pink took the cup Steven offered him, the mug warmed his hands and chased away the chill he hadn’t realized he’d been feeling. 

Steven fidgeted. 

“Um, I probably should have asked earlier but, do you _like_ to eat? I made sandwiches. Nothing fancy, just grilled cheese with avocado and tomato.” He gestured to the two plates he had sitting on the desk. 

Pink blinked. _You made me food?_

Steven looked embarrassed and started rambling, “Sorry- I was just in a cooking mood. That’s why I was taking a while. But I know you’re a gem and you don’t need to eat or drink. But some of the gems in my family like to, or they just like to smell the stuff I make. It’s okay, you don’t have to have it!”

The thought of refusing food Steven had _specially made for him_ was so completely out of question he struggled to process it. Why _wouldn’t_ he want it?

Steven obviously sensed his thoughts because he blushed but was clearly pleased.  
  
“Oh! Okay, cool. One sec-”

Pink was about to ask him if Steven wanted them off the bed but his human grabbed the two plates and his own coffee mug and sat on the bed across from Pink, putting the sandwiches between them. 

“Hope they’re okay.” Steven said, almost shyly. 

The sandwich was delicious. The buttery bread was crisp and golden but the cheese was wonderfully melted. The saltiness of the cheddar cheese was cut by the flavorful acidity of the tomato and rich avocado. 

Pink hadn’t ever eaten food before. He took another bite, amazed at how good it tasted. 

Steven smiled, “I’m glad you like it so much! As the first meal ever, grilled cheese is pretty good and hard to mess up.” 

Pink took a sip of the coffee, which was bitter but undercut with the sweetness of the sugar and milky creamer. 

“Sorry, I know coffee and grilled cheese is a little weird, but I was craving it.” Steven said between sips of his own coffee.

Pink titled his head. _I don’t think it’s weird. Thank you._

Steven smiled, “Sure. No prob, Bob.”

For a moment, Pink felt like he was being violently thrown backwards. 

The television behind Steven crackled to life with an electric hum, 

  
  


**“̴̛̞͍͈͎̙̦̪̈́̄͒̽̽̄͗͝Ņ̶̥̠̼̺̄̀̌͝ǫ̷͍̱͔̩̝͍͘ ̷͓͚̪̭͌̔̇̈́̌͌̚P̷̡͚̤͉̲͖̲̟͕̫̈́͋͂r̷̨̳̟̠͖̈́́ͅo̵̼͐̈́̽b̸̢̧͙͎̗͉̥̱̠̰̈́̌̓̑͐̋͝,̴̯͂ ̸̨̢̗͔̥̘̝͊̎̎̂̌͝͠B̶̡̺̼̥̯̓͗͘ó̶̺̦̜͙̄̎b̵̢̓̒̏͊͘͝-̶̨͕͖͂̏̊̑̑͝** ”̵̢͍̖̥̰͈͍̱̫͂́̈́͝

  
  


**“̶͔͓̇I̶̛̪͠t̴̻̠̞͌̒'̸̬͎̓͗̈͜s̵͈͕͐ ̷̲̪̥̈́L̷̡͈͕̑ȃ̴̡̘̓͛p̷͓̫͓͊͛͒i̵̥͈̹͐͗s̷͓͆** ”̷͍̀

**“̶̭̆Y̸̤͠ë̶͍a̶͚͐h̴͙̕.̵̤͗”̵̠͝**

Steven turned around, startled, but the screen was black again. “What was _that_?” He exclaimed as he stared at the t.v. in shock before he looked back at Pink with wide eyes.

“Just now- was there something on the screen? It kinda sounded like my voice but-”

Pink bit his lip and tensed. He hadn’t meant to do that, he’d done it _again_. He’d used his powers without intending to.

Steven must have seen the anxiety on his face, or maybe he had _felt_ it. 

“Does it taste okay?” He asked. 

Pink blinked. _What?_

“The coffee? I wasn’t sure how you liked it.” Steven asked, “Is it okay, do you want more or less cream and sugar next time?”

Pink calmed down and shook his head, unable to believe that there was going to be a ‘next time’. 

_It’s perfect._

They spent the next few moments quietly eating, both obviously lost in thought. Pink was half expecting Steven to change his mind and ask him to leave. Honestly, he wouldn’t have blamed him. And Pink would leave the temple if Steven told him to, even if he couldn’t bring himself to leave this reality. 

“I have to ask you for a favor.” Steven said with an apologetic tone, breaking the silence. “It’s about my family, they probably won’t be back until later this afternoon but we should probably talk about that.”

Pink nodded, eager to do whatever Steven asked of him. 

Steven took a generous slug of his coffee and then sighed. “My family is kinda _hair trigger_. Meaning they’re _totally_ going to overreact when they see you. It’s really _, really_ important that you don’t summon your shield like at the lighthouse. Or use your other powers.”

Pink nodded. He could do that. He could control himself if it meant he could stay with Steven. He’d never use his powers again if that’s what he had to do. 

Steven winced. “I’m sorry. I trust you and I know you wouldn’t hurt me- even though we just met, I can _feel_ that. But, we need to prove that to them. If you activate your powers, it’s just going to freak them out, and then make them get all over protective and stuff.” 

He drummed his fingertips against his mug and sighed, “I love them but I’m the ‘squishy human’ and they all tend to worry about me too much. Even though I go on missions with them all the time.” 

Pink knew exactly how delicate humans could be, and pushed away the memory that threatened to overwhelm him. 

“It’s just for when I first introduce you to them.” Steven tapped Pink on the nose with his finger. “So, no powers. _Capice_?”

Pink couldn’t help but smile, “ _Capice_.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

They spent the rest of the time in Steven’s room quietly hanging out. 

It was wonderful. 

Steven asked if he wanted to try playing a video game he’d gotten recently. Pink would have literally done anything Steven asked of him at this point. Something simple as playing a game together though was like a dream. 

“I think you’ll like it. It’s really relaxing. You just collect things for your little island. Make friends. There’s no fighting or bad guys or anything like that.” Steven assured as he handed Pink the game console. “Really low stress.”

Steven sat behind him on the bed to show him where to put his fingers on the controls. Admittedly, Pink didn’t recognize the touch screened console with its green and blue pastel controllers but it was easy to use once Steven showed him how. 

Pink leaned back against Steven’s chest and moved the little character across the screen to the sound of peaceful music while Steven showed him how to catch fish and dig up fossils. 

Pink was in a world with Steven where not only was he _alive_ but now they were playing a video game together. It was absolutely surreal in the best possible way. It was also a little scary, because Pink wondered if this was some grief fueled dream. He reassured himself that was unlikely though, he wasn’t this creative. 

After a bit, Steven wrapped his arms around Pink’s middle, happy to let him play on his own while Steven watched with his chin propped on Pink’s shoulder. He was a warm, comforting presence wrapped around him that smelled like home. 

Steven was quietly humming along to the music when they both heard the warp pad activate from downstairs. 

Pearl’s voice called up the stairs, “Steeeevan! You’ll never guess what we found!”

Steven leaned away so he wasn’t right by Pink’s ear when he called back, 

“Um, I’ll be there in a sec!”

Pink put the game down, feeling a rapid pulse of nervousness starting to race in him. What was he going to do when the gems saw him? He doubted they would be accepting of him--especially if they found out the truth. 

Steven obviously sensed his apprehension because he smiled gently and tousled Pink’s hair. “Hey, it’s gonna be okay, I promise. They’re a little much sometimes but they’re good people. They’re not gonna hurt you.” 

Pink wasn’t afraid of Steven’s family hurting him, it was likely impossible for them to do that, anyway. Well, Rose Quartz would be the exception. She was the only one of the gems who could overpower him.

No, he was more afraid that they’d try to take Steven away from him, or convince him that Pink was too dangerous to have around. They would be right, too. He was struggling to control his powers. He didn’t even know what or who he was anymore, beyond the obviously corrupted monster that he-

Warm hands suddenly cupped Pink’s face and he found himself looking up into Steven’s dark eyes. 

“ _Stop_ it. You’re not some monster, Pink. I don’t believe that for a second. A monster wouldn’t have slept with me all night, healed me, eaten a sandwich I made for him, and then played a video game with me. And a _monster_ wouldn’t be so concerned with my family’s approval of him because a _monster_ wouldn’t _care_.” 

Steven stroked one of his thumb across Pink’s cheek. “Look. my family is going to freak out, that part is going to totally suck and not be fun at all. But I promise it’s going to be okay.” He smiled, “I’ve trusted you all day, now can you trust _me_?”

Pink was already nodding and reached forward, desperate to hold him. Steven accepted the hug and squeezed him back reassuringly. He breathed out and felt centered in Steven’s warm arms.  
  
“I will.”

If Pink wanted to exist for Steven, then he could have faith in him too.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was brought to you by Childhood Trauma™! 
> 
> Yep! This Steven has it too! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*✲ﾟ*｡⋆
> 
> All jokes aside--
> 
> I’m shocked at how many people responded positively to this story. Thank you all so much for your kudos and lovely comments. I’ve read them all and you all are so sweet!
> 
> I hope it was okay that this chapter was sorta long, but I couldn’t find a good place to break it up into two equal parts. 
> 
> In the next chapter…
> 
> Steven introduces Pink “Agate” to his family.


	3. Your Heart, My Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven introduces Pink to his family.

Pink didn’t have a biological heart. But he still felt a pulse throbbing in his ears, so maybe it was Steven’s nervousness he was feeling. 

Steven squeezed him again. “It’s going to be okay, promise.”

He let go of him to take Pink’s hand and lead him to his bedroom door. 

“Okay. I’m gonna kind of...prime them for this.” Steven said, “It helps that they’re kind of used to me bringing stray animals home.” He quickly backpedaled, “Oh jeez, not that you’re an  _ animal _ ! I just mean- this isn’t gonna be completely out of the realm of possibilities. I’ve never brought a gem home to them before--well there was Centipeedle when I was younger but-”

Pink bit his lip.  _ Maybe I could just live under your bed.  _ He thought warily.  _ You can slide grilled cheese sandwiches under there every once in a while.  _

“That sounds _ hilarious  _ but no. It’s going to be fine. Just remember what I told you.”

_ No powers. _

He reached up to ruffle Pink’s hair, “Yeah, exactly.”

Steven was an optimist by nature. Which meant he trusted that while there was bound to be some rough patches, this was going to be fine.

He made his way down the stairs, trying to calm his heart rate down.    
  
Steven’s family was downstairs, all relaxing on the couches or around the kitchen counter.

Garnet was sitting on the couch with Bismuth and Pearl. They were closely observing an oblong shaped stone with a hole through it and inscribed with gem glyph writing. 

Amethyst was sitting at the counter eating some leftover curry he’d made a few nights ago while Spinel was perched on top of the refrigerator eating sugar straight out of the bag. Oh jeez, he was probably gonna need to go to the store for more again after this. 

His mom had been sitting on the other couch by the window and smiled as she stood up as she walked over to him. 

“Hey sweetie, you didn’t go back to your room last night, did you sleep in the lighthouse? It wasn’t too cold was it?”

Steven shook his head, “No, it was a nice night.”

And it was hard to be cold when Pink had been wrapped up in his arms all night. 

She brushed a lock of hair from his forehead, “Well it’s starting to get colder, use the space heater that’s up there next time- just to be safe.”

He smiled, “Sure, mom.”

Amethyst turned to him as she ate the last of her curry, “Oh, dude! We got this really cool thing. Pearl, show him!”

Pearl held up the strange stone proudly. “It’s a wailing stone! It was used to communicate messages back in Era One, I can’t believe what great shape it’s in!”

Welp, that was a chance to segway if he ever saw one. 

“Oh!” Steven said, “That’s so cool! Um, while you guys were gone. I... found someone too.”

“Oh? A new friend?” His mom asked. 

He nodded. “Um, yeah.”

“Oh my stars did you bring some injured  _ wild animal _ home again?” Pearl asked anxiously as she carefully put the stone down on the coffee table. 

“If it’s _ another  _ raccoon, I’m going to riot.” Bismuth grumped from the couch as she idly polished Steven’s dagger that he’d left out. “That last one stole my  _ favorite _ chisel.”   


Amethyst side eyed her. “I still don’t understand why you need  _ tools _ , you can make your hand into  _ anything _ you want, right?”

“I'm an _ artist  _ not a  _ savage _ , Amethyst.” Bismuth replied with a roll of her eyes. She lifted up Steven’s dagger in demonstration and gestured to the intricate Leo constellation that she’d engraved into the blade when she’d made it. “I like to use tools for  _ delicate _ work. We’ve been  _ over _ this!” 

“Okay guys, settle down.” his mom said before she smiled down at Steven, “Show us your new friend, Steven.”

“Ha, you  _ promise _ not to freak out, though?” He asked. “He’s  _ really _ shy.”

“Dude, whatever it is, it can’t be weirder than that possum you brought home last month.” Amethyst said, cackling when Pearl gave a full body shudder of revulsion.

“He’s not a  _ possum _ .” Steven answered.

“Oh thank  _ goodness _ .” Pearl said. “That thing had the most  _ haunting  _ eyes.”

“Okay, so please just be cool?” Steven stepped away from his mom and walked back part way up the stairs. 

He looked up at Pink Agate who was at the top of the stairs, looking (and feeling) very hesitant about this.

Steven stepped up closer to him.

“C’mon, bud. It’s safe.” He reached out his hands. “Trust me, okay?”

Steven heard his mom giggle behind him, “It's so  _ cute _ when he talks to animals like that.”

Her laughter stopped cold when Pink finally took Steven’s hands and allowed Steven to lead him down the stairs to the middle landing.

Steven quickly put an arm around Pink’s shoulders. 

“So guys! This is my new friend, Pink Agate!”    


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

_ The grilled cheese under the bed idea is looking good right now, isn’t it?  _ Pink thought at Steven. 

“Shush.” Steven replied. 

As soon as Steven had introduced him, pretty much every gem had armed themselves and gotten into position at the base of the stairs.

It was actually impressive how in sync they were with each other. 

Pink surveyed the scene. 

Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were obviously part of Steven’s gem family, that wasn’t different from his world. Bismuth was here too, but it seemed as though she lived here instead of at Little Homeworld. 

Those four didn’t really concern him though.

Pink stared in shock at two gems in particular.

Rose Quartz and Spinel. 

Steven had mentioned her earlier, and Pink had even heard her voice, but he hadn’t been prepared to see _her_ , much less the gem who had _murdered_ his other half. 

This Rose Quartz had shorter hair that fell to her shoulders, and had forgone her elegant dress for a more practical form with a top and leggings but it was still obviously  _ her _ . Her eyes were hard as she glared up at him while she had her sword and shield out. 

Spinel on the other hand was barely recognizable. The only reason he did was because of her coloring and the heart shaped gem on her chest which was turned right side up. 

This Spinel didn’t look anything like the deranged murderer she’d been in his world. She was the only one who _wasn’t_ raising a weapon at him and was sitting on the refrigerator and looking at him with her wide, curious eyes. 

Steven pushed Pink back up the stairs behind him and summoned a shield from his ring.

“Calm  _ down _ . Seriously you guys, chill!” He commanded from his position on the stairs.

The other gems were tense, prepared to fight. 

“Steven, get away from that thing and come here  _ now _ !” Pearl ordered, her spear clenched tightly in her hands. 

“No, not until you guys put your weapons away!” Steven countered as he felt Pink cling to him anxiously. “You’re freaking him out!” 

“We’re freaking _ him _ out?!” Amethyst screeched, her voice cracking.  “Why does he  _ look _ like you?! It’s really weird!  _ Dude _ , get my lil’ bro’s face off your face! We’re the only ones allowed to do that!”

Bismuth narrowed her eyes at him, “Is that a  _ corrupted  _ gem?! Steven, what in the starblazes are you  _ thinking _ ?!”

“I’m  _ thinking, _ I’d love for us to have a  _ calm, family chat  _ but we can’t do that until you guys stop arming yourselves like you’re about to go to  _ war _ !” Steven replied in exasperation. 

Pearl, Bismuth, and his mom didn’t lower their weapons. Garnet and Amethyst did though after a moment of hesitation. 

Garnet stepped forward, calm and collected as ever. “Steven. You have to see this from our perspective. You have a strange gem we’ve never seen before with you. We haven’t had good relations with unknown gems in the past.”

“I know, but Garnet, he isn’t like how Peridot used to be or Jasper! He’s safe, I swear. I wouldn’t let a dangerous gem into our house!”Steven said defensively. He felt Pink clutch the hand that wasn’t raising a shield.

_ Steven Steven Steven _

“Shh. It’s fine.” He said reassuringly to Pink who, as promised, didn't use any of his powers. 

“Uh. Did he say something?” Amethyst asked, “Because I didn’t hear anything.”

Rose Quartz stepped forward, and the presence she exerted made it believable that she had kickstarted a war against an empire.

With her quiet anger, she looked every bit the gem warrior she was.

She also looked like a  _ diamond _ , Pink thought. 

“Steven. Rea. Quartz. Universe.” She said in a low voice. “Come down here  _ now _ .”

Amethyst let out a whisper gas, “Oh dang she used the  _ middle _ name.”

“Mom, wait-” Steven pleaded. “He’s just scared!” 

Rose narrowed her eyes and with a motion of her hand, put a pink bubble around Steven, effectively cutting him off from Pink who was motionless with shock.

“Woah- Mom!” Steven protested, “Don’t put me in a bubble!” 

She used another motion of her hand to lift Steven’s bubble into the air and brought him towards her. 

“We are going to have a talk about this later.” She said. “I cannot  _ believe _ you would be this reckless.”

“You’re overreacting, he’s fine! I’ve been hanging out with him all day!”

Rose frowned. “Wait. Last night- You said there was a pink  _ you _ under your bed.” She gestured to Pink, “Is _ that  _ what you were talking about?!” 

Steven sucked in a breath and gave a nervous laugh from inside the bubble. 

“Um.  _ Yeah _ ?”

Pink tensed as he felt a panicked feeling rise up through him.

Steven had been right there in front of him, and in an instant he’d been taken. 

Steven wasn’t with him. His body trembled and he felt a familiar, cold dread, so cold it  _ burned _ , build behind his gem.

Steven had asked him to not use his powers- but he’d also said he’d be fine-but now he was trapped- 

Fear, thick as tar and just as dark filled him, threatening to spill over and consume him.    
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

  
This was not going as well as he had hoped. Steven quickly realized. 

He could feel Pink’s panic, the rising tempest of his emotions, dark and bitterly cold _. _

Steven didn’t understand this connection between them, but he trusted it was real. If  _ he _ could feel Pink’s emotions, then he was sure it worked both ways. 

Steven slapped his hand against the bubble he was in, anxious to snap Pink out of his thoughts.  
  
“Pink! It’s okay, I’m  _ fine _ !”

Pink flinched but Steven’s voice had managed to distract him as he blinked and his bright eyes stayed transfixed on Steven.  Steven didn’t know what he was doing. He’d never done anything like this before.

He clumsily tried to imagine what _ comfort  _ would feel like, soft and warm and glowing. Something to break through Pink’s panic and fear. He couldn’t see anything between them, but he  _ felt _ it when it reached Pink. 

Pink’s shuddered and his body slowly untensed. He let out a frustrated whine but didn’t do anything but sit down on the stairs, his eyes still desperately trained onto Steven. 

His mother had been staring at Pink, her body tight and ready for the fight she had sensed was coming but then turned to Steven in shock. “Were you able to actually  _ communicate _ with that corrupted gem? Just now?”

Steven sighed in relief before he turned to his mom. “Yes, he was just scared because you  _ bubbled _ me, he thought you were going to hurt me. Which is why I said _ not  _ to do that.”

His mom lowered Steven’s bubble onto the ground but hesitated.

“Mom, please? Something really bad happened to him. Whatever it was, it really hurt him. He’s just scared of being alone again. Now can we please _ talk  _ about this?”

She glanced between him and Pink. “He hasn’t tried to hurt you?”

“No, I swear.” Steven insisted, “I wouldn’t be defending him like this if he had!”

“You mean how you totally didn’t defend  _ Peridot _ ?” She asked dryly. 

“That was different!”

“She  _ kidnapped _ you. Twice.” His mom replied with a frown. They’d accepted Peridot as a Crystal Gem but that was still a sore point for her. 

“For like ten minutes and then you all found me!” He said in exasperation. “Anyway, he’s not like how Peridot  _ used  _ to be. He’s completely harmless.”

Pearl walked up with her spear still raised and turned to his mom. “Rose, we should bubble that corrupted gem now.” 

“Mom, don’t,  _ please _ .”

His mom sighed and looked up at Pink Agate with a conflicted expression. It was difficult to argue that Pink Agate was dangerous as he quietly sat on the stairs looking like a kicked puppy. 

“Alright.” Rose said.

As soon as she released Steven’s bubble, every gem twitched when Pink bolted down the stairs over to Steven and grabbed him, wrapping his arms tightly around his arm. 

Steven smiled, “Hey, it’s okay, see? I’m fine. She’s my mom, these gems are my family, they’re  _ safe _ .”

Pink didn’t argue, he was just relieved that Steven wasn’t being kept in another gem’s bubble anymore. 

Steven huffed as he glanced over at his family. 

Rose Quartz may be his mother, but truthfully, _ all _ the gems had a hand in raising him. The exceptions were probably Amethyst and Spinel who were more like siblings than parents. 

Steven sighed, “Okay, as I started before. This is Pink Agate. He’s been alone for a long time. I wanted to talk about letting him stay with us.”   


Pearl’s jaw dropped. “Steven, I cannot believe you’d be so irresponsible to hang out with that  _ thing _ ! And now you want him to  _ stay _ ?!” She said while dragging her hands through her hair. 

“Hey!” Steven said indignantly. “He’s a gem, just like  _ you _ ! And he’s a corruption, just like all _ your  _ friends that we’ve been bubbling until we can figure out how to heal them!”

“But you know how  _ dangerous  _ corrupted gems are!” Pearl cried back, angrily.

Steven gestured to Pink, who was clinging quietly to his arm. “Does he  _ look  _ like he’s dangerous to you?! If he was going to hurt me he would have done it the moment we met, but instead he told me he wanted to be friends!” 

“And you  _ trusted  _ him?!”

Steven glared at her. “Yeah, I’m pretty good at recognizing _ liars _ , Pearl. I can tell that he’s  _ not lying  _ to me when he said he didn’t want to hurt me!”

She spluttered, “What exactly do you mean by _ that _ ?!”

“Um. Maybe we shouldn’t get into that? That’s some risky bismuth hahaha.” Bismuth said, trying to smooth things over. 

Next to her, Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Eh, let them. It’s been at least three weeks since they last had a fight.”

Steven huffed. “It just means what I said. I can tell he doesn’t want to hurt me!”

His mom interjected. “Why isn’t he talking? Why isn’t he just telling us all this himself?” She looked between him and Pink, visibly uncomfortable. “Also, can you please stop shape shifting yourself to look like my  _ son _ ?”

Pink glanced at his mom but then hid his face into Steven’s neck. 

“Well.” His mother said, affronted.

“He talks to me, _ only _ me, I think.” Steven said, trying to smooth things over. “I can hear his voice.”

Rose raised her eyebrows. “What does he say?”

_ My Steven, mine.  _

Steven sensed that it probably wasn’t a good idea to tell his mom that. 

“Um, he wants to protect me?”

“It’s strange that he won’t talk to us though.” Garnet said. 

Steven shrugged. Pink hadn’t given him a reason for why he wouldn’t talk to the other gems. “Um. I think it has something to do with the trauma of being corrupted? I don’t think he  _ likes _ to talk to other gems?"

His mother’s face fell. “I see. That would make sense, I suppose.” She stared at Pink before her gaze leveled back on Steven. “He really didn’t try to attack you? Not  _ once _ ?”

Steven shook his head. “No. I swear. He’s just scared and lonely. He can’t really tell me where he came from, I think he was really freaked out by whatever happened when he got corrupted.”

He felt a spike of sadness from Pink and Steven turned to him, worried. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re alright now, right?”

Pink looked up at him with his wide eyes before pressing his face back into Steven’s neck, adjusting his arms so they were around Steven’s waist instead of his arm. 

Steven felt every gem’s eyes watching Pink and how he looked for comfort in him. 

“Rose.” Pearl said irately, breaking the thick silence. “You cannot  _ possibly _ be okay with this.”

His mom was the leader of the Crystal Gems, but she’d never  _ abused _ that power. She was the leader because she was the strongest, and the one who’d started the rebellion in the first place. But she wasn’t in charge because she  _ enjoyed _ it. Rarely did she tip the scales of their groups dynamics in her favor or give an outright command save for in the heat of battle. In this instance though, Steven could tell the group was deferring completely to her.

Rose hesitated. “We’ve never seen a corrupted gem who was so  _ calm _ . Steven’s right, if Pink Agate wanted to cause  _ damage _ or attack us, he would have done it by now.”

Garnet added, “This is unprecedented, a corrupted gem who is still so in  _ control  _ of himself.”

“Rose, Garnet, please. This is  _ dangerous _ . This isn’t like the time Steven brought an unruly squirrel home!” Pearl replied. 

“That was hilarious.” Amethyst said with a smirk and Spinel giggled next to her at the memory.

“It’s a corrupted gem, they’re unpredictable!” Pearl added frantically, seeing the choice his mom was leaning towards.

Rose stepped towards Pearl. “Garnet’s right though. We’ve  _ never  _ seen a corrupted gem like this before. What if he’s _ different _ from the others? Steven said this gem was communicating with him,  _ none _ of the other corrupted gems could do that! Not even the centipeedle he bonded with!”

Pearl pinched the bridge of her nose. “I cannot believe you’re allowing this.”

“Pearl, I’m not a dumb little kid anymore. Can’t you just  _ trust  _ me?” Steven finally asked in exasperation. “If he was  _ dangerous _ I would _ know _ by now!”

Pearl looked at him, conflicted. She reached out and squeezed Steven’s shoulder.

“Of  _ course _ I trust you Steven, that isn’t even a question. It’s the fact I don’t trust  _ him _ ! We don’t _ know  _ him! Don't know what he’ll do when he gets upset and loses control!”

Garnet spoke up. “When you became friends with that nephrite-”

“Centipeedle.” Spinel corrected as she moved from on top of the refrigerator to the kitchen counter.

“Centipeedle. When you became friends with her, she still would have reactions when she was stressed. Spraying acid and endangering others. Even though she didn’t mean to.”

Steven sighed. “I know.” He felt regret fill him at the thought of the corrupted nephrite. He’d try to be her friend, to help her heal. But it hadn’t been enough. Even when his mom had used some of her healing water, the corruption had only partially healed until she reverted to her fully corrupted state. 

“I know that you guys are worried. I get it. But Pink’s safe, really. He even healed me!”

That had his mom’s attention snapping back at him. “What?! He  _ healed _ you?!”

Pearl’s eyes widened in shock as well. “That- That shouldn’t-”

Pink squeezed him, and Steven felt a nidge of anxiety radiate from him. Steven pet his hair, hoping to relax him.

“Yeah. I told him I hurt my shoulder yesterday and he healed it.”

His mom frowned. “You hurt your shoulder?  _ When _ ?”

“Oh, when we were trying to catch that corrupted quartz yesterday? Remember when I grabbed her but she threw me off? I think it messed up my shoulder a little bit.”

“Why didn’t you  _ tell _ me?” his mom asked in concern. “I didn’t even know you’d been  _ hurt _ ! Steven, we  _ talked  _ about this!” 

Steven quickly tried to reassure her, “I was just going to use the rose essence, mom! I was fine, it wasn’t a big deal- Look, Pink healed me, I’m  _ fine _ !” 

Bismuth had been letting them talk it out but stepped forward, putting a hand on Rose’s shoulder. 

“Safety concerns aside, there’s something else that bothers me.” She said. “There were never any _ pink agates _ in the rebellion. I would remember. I knew every single gem that fought for your mom’s rebellion and there was  _ never _ a pink agate on our side. So, that means he’s a Homeworld gem like  _ Peridot _ .”

Steven raised his eyebrow. “ _ You  _ used to be a Homeworld gem too, Bismuth, before you sided with mom’s rebellion. And anyway, Pink said he’s from the  _ earth _ , and that he’s not loyal to homeoworld. But, he didn’t fight on mom’s side of the war either.” he looked down thoughtfully at Pink. “He said he’s loyal to um, himself.”

Rose tapped her chin. “I know other rose quartzes like me were made on earth in the prime kindergarten. I didn’t know there were pink agates though? Perhaps he popped out late like Amethyst did but somehow still got corrupted?”

“None of that matters!” Pearl said. “Are we going to let him stay or not?”

Bismuth looked over at Pink and Steven. “Okay, we need to all talk this out together, obviously. But, we probably shouldn’t be hashing things out like this right in front of him.”

“That’s fine.” Steven said. “You know I want him to stay. You guys talk it out and I can give him a tour of Beach City or something.”

Rose hesitated. “ _ Only _ if you take one of your weapons with you.”

Steven didn’t argue and walked over to the coffee table to pick up the dagger Bismuth had been polishing earlier and sheathed it before strapping it to his thigh. “Okay?”

Rose nodded, mollified. “Fine. But don’t go farther than the boardwalk.”

Steven made a noise of agreement before he walked out the front door with Pink closely trailing after him like a duckling. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.   
  


After Steven and Pink walked out Amethyst piped up. “Um. So, we’re all gonna talk about how we feel about Pink Agate staying?”

“Yes.” Rose said. “It’s important to weigh the risks and assess the likelihood that he’s dangerous.”

“No, I got that.” Amethyst said. “But. Um, we’re just gonna let him and Steven walk around together.  _ Alone _ ? I mean- If Pink Agate tries to actually hurt him is there anything Steven’s going to be able to do to stop him all by himself? Steven’s good at holding his own and stuff but aren’t agates like, really really crazy strong gem warriors?”

There was a collective awareness in the group and Amethyst laughed. 

“You guys all forgot Steven was human for a moment, didn’t you?”

“Whoops.” Garnet replied. 

Bismuth grumbled, “Can you  _ blame _ us? He acts more like a  _ diamond  _ at times than a human.”

Rose pinched the bridge of her nose. “Spinel, be a dear and go check with them, please. Just to be safe.”

Spinel gave a cheerful mock salute, “You got it Rosie Posie!” 

The gems watched her run out of the house after Steven.

Amethyst turned back to the other gems. “Okay so Steven’s not alone with Pink Agate anymore. But now we’re gonna talk and make an  _ important decision _ about this without Spinel?”

“Amethyst.” Pearl said with a slight edge in her voice.

“Okay, okay. Yeesh.” 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

“Steevaaan! Wait up!”

Pink twitched at the unpleasantly familiar voice and turned to see Spinel running up to them, her shoes making squeaky noises in the sand as she did. He  _ had _ been enjoying the walk with Steven until she showed up.    


“Hey, Spinel.” Steven said with a smile at her. “What’s going on?”

“Nothin’ Rose just wanted me to hang out with you and Pink Agate to make sure you were alright and stuff.”

Pink found it unsettling that the entire time she was talking she was looking only at him and not at Steven. 

“Oh, sure. I was just gonna show him around so he was familiar with the area.” Steven replied.

Spinel hopped into the air, “Ohh Ohh! Can I get an ice cream?”

“Sure, of course.” 

Spinel cheered “Great! Let’s go!”

When she reached out to take Pink’s other hand to hold it, he flinched away before she could touch him.

“Whatsamatter?” Spinel asked. 

Pink turned his face away from her and clung to Steven, wrapping his arms around his middle. When she got too close, Pink moved behind Steven without letting go of him. 

“Hey!” Spinel frowned at him. “Why are you being like that?”

Steven put his hands up to diffuse the situation, “Spinel, Pink’s kinda nervous around other gems, just give him a little space, okay?”

Pink felt eyes on him and looked over Steven’s shoulder to see Spinel staring at him intently.

He tensed up and clung onto Steven tighter. 

“Spinel, please.” Steven said patiently.

She pouted cutely, “I’m only  _ looking _ at him. And I just wanna  _ play _ !”

“I know, Spins, but people like their space. We’ve talked about that. He’s probably overwhelmed with our family from earlier. I think right now he’d rather have some quiet time than play a game, okay?”

Spinel gave a small, disappointed huff but nodded. “ _ Fine _ , I get it.”

Steven raised a hand back to stroke Pink’s cheek reassuringly. “But really, Pink. You don’t need to be scared of her, I promise. She won’t hurt you.”

As if to demonstrate how safe she was, Steven reached out with his other hand and patted Spinel on the head. She smiled sweetly at Pink and she looked about as threatening as a plush bunny toy. 

This Spinel was obviously different in both temperament and appearance from the one that had killed his Steven. She looked harmless enough with her hair styled into heart buns and her teacup shaped skirt. Her eyes were doll-like instead of the furious, manic ones that the other Spinel had. 

It didn’t matter though. He could see this Spinel was the same as the other one. What he didn’t understand was why she was  _ here _ ? 

Pink hadn’t given a chance for the murderous Spinel in his world to explain herself, and had shattered her immediately after she had killed Steven. He dimly remembered Pearl mentioning something about a garden but Pink hadn’t cared enough to pay attention. 

He hadn’t cared  _ why  _ Steven had been killed. Only cared about the void it ripped apart into him, and the hollow ache that haunted him for years afterwards from the absence of his better half. 

He heard Steven suck in a breath and realized he must have felt the desolation of Pink’s feelings, even if he hadn’t let Steven know his thoughts. 

“Hey, Spinel?” Steven said in a cheerful voice, “I have a big favor to ask.”

“Yep?” She chirped.

Steven reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver half-dollar, “I wanna play Scavenger Hunt.”

She jumped up excitedly, “Oh!! I love Scavenger Hunt, what do I need to find?”

Steven handed her the coin, “I need you to find five things that go with this coin. Either the same shape, color, material, purpose, size, or feel.”

“What’s the rule?” She asked eagerly. 

“The rule is whatever you find, it can’t be another _ coin _ .”

Spinel bounced in place while holding it, “How much time do I have?!”

“No time limit, take as long as you want.” Steven replied. “When you find the five things, meet us at the boardwalk. I’m just gonna show Pink around for a little bit but that’ll probably be boring for you. If you win I’ll buy you ice cream with extra sprinkles. Three, two, one, go!”

Spinel gave an excited shriek before she started running off towards the beach. 

Pink watched her go with no small amount of relief.

“She really  _ is _ harmless.” Steven said to Pink reassuringly. “I’ve never seen her hurt anyone,  _ ever _ . Even when she goes on missions to catch corrupted gems, she prefers to support us defensively rather than to _ fight  _ them.”

Pink stubbornly pushed his face in between Steven’s shoulder blades, not interested in talking about the hyperactive pink gem anymore. 

Steven sensed that and turned around to give Pink a hug. “Hey, she can be a lot sometimes but she’s really sweet. She’s just a bit over excited because you’re new, I can run interference until she calms down though.” 

He combed his fingers through Pink’s hair, “Now that it’s just you and me again, let me give you the grand tour. Oh! How about I take you to the Big Donut, first?”

Pink nodded, not sure he was capable of refusing Steven anything, especially not when he brushed through his hair like that.    
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

The door to the Big Donut jingled cheerfully as Steven walked through it with Pink in tow. It was late afternoon and creeping into evening, but the donut shop was still open luckily.

“Hey Onion!” Steven greeted cheerfully. 

Onion, the only one who was working the store at the moment quietly smiled at them and stepped up onto a stool so he could see over the counter more. He was old enough to work the counter but he really hadn’t grown much from when he was a kid.

“Two pink donuts with sprinkles, please.” Steven said as he approached the counter, already pulling the right amount of money from his wallet.

Onion smiled and silently pushed a neatly folded paper bag towards Steven. 

Huh, he must have already had his order ready. Unsurprising, Steven usually got the same thing. 

He turned to look down at Pink,  “Is there anything else that you want?”

Pink wordlessly shook his head and Steven handed Onion the money. 

“Thanks bud! Keep the change. Have a great day!”

Onion smiled.

Steven held the bag in one hand and Pink’s hand in the other as he walked back outside, the door jingling behind him as he let it close.

“Onion’s grown so much, I can’t believe how responsible he is, they’re letting him work the store by himself now.”

He turned to notice Pink staring at him with an incredulous, wide-eyed expression. 

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Pink looked slightly dazed and radiated confusion. 

_ It’s nothing. _

He’d probably never been inside of a donut shop before, Steven guessed.

“Alright, donut? These are  _ amazing _ . Onion made them fresh this morning. They’re sweet and melt in your mouth.”

_ Okay.  _

Steven held the donut out to him but instead of taking it, Pink leaned over and took a bite of the sugary treat from Steven’s hand. If the soft feeling of pleasure Steven felt from him was any indication, he obviously enjoyed it. 

“Good, right?” Steven asked with a grin.

Pink nodded, taking another bite. 

_ They’re good. _

Pink took the other donut out of the bag and held it out to Steven,  _ your turn _ .

Steven laughed, “You wanna feed me, too?”

_...Please? _

Pink was giving him a cute, shy expression that Steven certainly couldn’t refuse. He leaned forward and took a bite of the donut Pink held out for him. 

He smiled at Steven, radiating happiness like starlight. 

Steven ruffled Pink’s hair, “You know, with a smile like that, you could probably get away with murder.”

He leaned into Steven’s touch, thrilled with his attention.

Steven wiped a sprinkle from Pink’s cheek. Honestly Steven still didn’t understand why they had the connection they did, but Pink’s happiness brought out his own. 

After they finished feeding each other donuts, Steven wadded up the paper bag and threw it in the recycling bin. 

“So, we can’t go past the boardwalk -mom’s orders- but I’ll show you around there. That’s where all the best stuff is anyway.” Steven said as he reached out to hold Pink’s hand. 

Pink didn’t need to be shown around Beach City, he probably knew every square inch of it. But, Steven could have asked him to watch paint dry with him and Pink would have been happy to. 

Steven took his hand and led him across the street to where the boardwalk started. 

Pink had assumed that Steven’s world was basically a mirror of his without many differences.

In a way, that was true. Beach City was mostly unchanged from how it had been in his own reality. The people he recognized were mostly doing the same jobs they had been doing that they did in his world as well. 

Well. Except Onion.

That had been weird.

That aside though, Pink learned that the worlds definitely weren’t just carbon copies of each other. 

“My dad used to be a rockstar when he was younger, he actually was starting to really take off and was getting pretty popular. His first album hit platinum apparently.” Steven said. 

Steven’s voice took on a soft, wistful tone. “But then when he came here, he met my mom, they fell in love, and he decided to stay here in Beach City with her. So he gave up his rock star lifestyle and opened up a music store. I’ve been taking care of it for him while he’s gone.” 

_ Gone? _ Pink asked.

Steven nodded, “Right now he’s the manager of a band called Sadie Killers and the Suspects and travels with them a lot. They’re touring right now and they’re getting really big, it’s  _ crazy _ .”

He pulled up an image of the band on his phone to show Pink. “I feel bad for Lars, though. He and Sadie -she’s the lead singer in the band- are engaged but they haven’t been seeing each other much because of her tours. She texted and said she was dropping by next month though for a break before they tour Europe.”

Pink was happy to listen to Steven’s chatter and quietly filed away the differences between this new world and his old one. 

The small differences in Beach City didn’t bother him though. What confused him were the gems. 

So. Rose Quartz was alive in this universe.

The implications of that were alarming frankly. This Rose Quartz didn’t  _ have _ to give up her form to have Steven, but the trade off to that is he was born fully human. 

Which means the Rose Quartz of his old reality  _ chose _ to not exist anymore, even though she had the choice to continue living. 

He was only grateful his long departed better half would never learn that. It would have likely  _ destroyed _ him to know all the pain and trauma he had endured because of his mother’s death could have easily been avoided at her whim. 

His question was, did the gems know her old identity?

Pearl obviously did, that was a given.

Did anyone  _ else _ know and they were just keeping it hush hush around him because they didn’t trust him yet?

_ Who are all the gems in your family? _ He asked.

“Oh. Well there’s my Rose Quartz, my mom. You met Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Bismuth, and Spinel.”

_...and your gem allies? _

Steven raised his eyebrows. “Gem allies? Oh, yeah! We recently got a gem named Peridot to join our team. She helped us save the planet from this thing called the Cluster? Apparently it was going to destroy the earth but mom was able to bubble it somehow.” 

_ How recently did she join your team?  _ Pink asked.

In his world, Steven had met Peridot when he was about fourteen when they’d taken care of the cluster together. This Steven was obviously older than that. 

“Oh, a few months ago I guess?” He smiled. “She’s great, I’ll introduce her to you sometime. She doesn’t live with us, she wanted to stay at my family’s old barn out in the country.”

So that meant the Diamond Authority was still in power as a galactic dictatorship if Little Homeworld didn’t exist yet. 

That was a bit troubling, but he’d think more on that more later. 

_ She lives at the barn by herself? _

“Yeah, I guess she likes the wide open space? She also experiments a lot and likes to build things.”  
  
When he notably didn’t mention Lapis Lazuli, Pink pressed,  _ There aren’t any  _ **_other_ ** _ gems you’re friendly with? _

“...Other gems? Oh.” Steven smiled knowingly at Pink. “Ha, I  _ get _ it.”

He laughed and squeezed Pink against his side, “Of  _ course _ we’re friends _ ,  _ silly.”

That hadn’t been what Pink was fishing for but he couldn’t help the fuzzy warmth that radiated from his gem at Steven’s touch. 

Completely distracted from his goal of gathering information, he automatically reached out to hug Steven back. 

His good mood was impacted when Spinel came running back towards them, “Steven I got the stuff! Look look!”

Steven stepped over, “Okay, lets see what you got.”

She held out her hands to him.

“Lets see, a shell, bottlecap, rock, bobby pin, dollar bill. Can you justify those?” He asked.

She nodded with a serious face. “Yes! The shell is the same size as the coin. The bottle cap is round like it, the rock is the same color, the bobby pin is made of metal, and the dollar is also money like the coin is!” 

He smiled at her, “Nice job Spinel! I’ll take the other stuff but you can keep the dollar, why don’t you use that and the coin I gave you to get quarters for some games?”

She reached out to tug his hand, “Wait! What about the ice cream?” 

“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget. How about we get it when you’re done playing your games? You can eat it on the way home.”

“Ohh, okay!” She answered happily before she turned to go into the arcade.   
  
Steven turned to Pink, “Would you like ice-cream later, too? It's good, cold but sweet.”

Pink shook his head,  _ I’m fine. _

“You want to play a game? I know some we can do together.”

Pink had enjoyed playing that cute, relaxing game with Steven earlier. But being around Spinel made him on edge and he didn’t even want to be in the same room as her if he didn’t have to be. But he couldn’t possibly refuse Steven if that’s what he wanted to do.

_ Okay, which game? _

Steven frowned a little and leaned down so he and Pink were more eye level. 

“You can tell me ‘no’, Pink. I’m not going to get  _ mad _ .” 

Pink flushed, realizing Steven must have caught on to his feelings. 

_ I’m fine doing whatever  _ **_you’d_ ** _ like.  _

“Remember how I told you we were friends?” Steven asked.

_ Yes? _

“Well as your  _ friend, _ I don’t want you to be in a situation that makes you uncomfortable. You already did that today with my family, but that was necessary to get them on board with letting you stay. But if you don’t want to be around Spinel because she’s making you anxious, it’s okay.”

Pink leaned forward to touch their foreheads together.    
  
_ Okay.  _

“So what would you like to do?”

Pink just wanted to spend time with him. That was all he wanted to do for the rest of his existence. 

_ Can we sit by the beach? _

“Sure, of course. I like doing that too.”

Steven took Pink’s hand in his own warm one and led him over to the shore where the waves were gently breaking. 

They sat down in the soft sand and Pink instantly leaned into Steven’s side, happy when he felt Steven’s arm wrap around his shoulders.

“I don’t know why we have this connection, this bond.” Steven started to say softly, “And I don’t understand it. But I’ve learned over the years to just roll with this gem stuff.”

He squeezed Pink and looked at him, “I get this feeling that you want to please me, because for some reason, I’m important to you, right?”

He nodded. ‘Important’ didn’t cover it completely, but it was a start.

“Okay.” Steven said. “But it goes two ways. Your feelings are important to me too.” 

Pink felt his cheeks flush.  _ Oh _

“So I want you to let me know what you like or don’t like. Alright?”

Pink nodded. He still couldn’t bring himself to tell Steven who he was and where he came from, he didn’t trust himself to talk about it without completely falling apart. But he wanted to be honest with Steven as much as he could. 

He looked up at his human after a moment of hesitation. 

_ I don’t like Spinel because she reminds me of a  _ **_bad_ ** _ gem I used to know.  _

Steven raised his eyebrows. “A bad gem? Was it a gem from Homeworld?”

Pink nodded and raked his clawed fingers into the sand underneath him, struggling not to shake. 

_ She hurt...she hurt my friend. She  _ **_shattered_ ** _ them.  _

Steven sucked in a breath. “Oh, oh my gosh.” He rubbed the back of Pink’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Pink. That’s  _ awful _ .”

He leaned forward and Steven wrapped his arms around him like he’d done it dozens of times. 

“Thank you for telling me, I can only imagine how bad that must have hurt.” Steven said as he squeezed him close. 

Pink nodded and closed his eyes, soaking up the affection like a flower drinking in sunlight. He felt better now that he’d been able to tell Steven at least  _ something _ even if it wasn’t the whole truth. Maybe someday he would.    
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

A bit of time later, they walked back to the house. 

Spinel was happily eating her ice cream and Pink was clinging to Steven’s arm like it was a lifeline. Steven had a better understanding of Pink’s aversion to her now so he acted as a buffer and walked between them. 

Steven did notice that every so often, Spinel’s eyes darted over to Pink Agate, who seemed to want absolutely  _ none _ of her attention. 

He admitted it was a little strange how fixated Spinel seemed to be on Pink. He would normally just chalk it up to him being a new face, and therefore a new possible friend, but she hadn’t been this interested in Peridot when she joined the Crystal Gems.    


Though, Peridot had been their enemy once upon a time. 

They’d never had a new gem join their team before who was friendly at the start, never mind a _ corrupted  _ gem. 

He wasn’t sure about sharing what Pink had told him with the other gems. He didn’t like hiding the truth, but it also wasn’t _ his  _ story to share. Pink had been visibly shaken when he told Steven about it, obviously he was still haunted by what had happened, and Steven completely understood why. He hadn’t asked earlier, but he made a mental note to check with Pink if it was okay if he shared that with the gems, it’d certainly help them understand his situation better. His family had all lost important people in that terrible war, they couldn’t  _ not _ empathize with Pink who’d lost a friend himself to Homeworld. 

He looked down at Pink who shyly glanced up at him like he’d sensed Steven’s gaze. 

Steven gently extracted his arm from Pink who made a soft, confused noise before Steven put his arm around his shoulders and pulled Pink close to him as they walked back home.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...You guys like hurt/comfort right? 
> 
> Because I’m a slave for it. :D
> 
> If you know where Steven’s middle name ‘Rea’ comes from, you get a cookie!
> 
> Also, thank you so much for all your kudos and amazing comments! My cheeks have hurt from smiling as I read all of them! 
> 
> In the next chapter…
> 
> Steven and Pink break the rules, immediately.
> 
> Amethyst is an accomplice.


	4. I Am Your Soft Place To Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Pink break the rules, immediately.
> 
> Amethyst is an accomplice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please take notice of the ‘mentions of trauma’ and ‘action related violence’ tag I added to the fic. 
> 
> Guys, this is gonna be a lil’ roller coaster and this chapter is 40 pages long. 
> 
> I’m sorry it’s so long but I couldn’t find a good spot to break it apart without it being jarring and weird. If you need a wellness break from reading it, a good place to stop might be when Steven gets into his car.

Except for his mom, the gems weren’t in the house when the three of them walked in.

Steven suspected the other gems had gone back to their own quarters after deliberating. They probably all needed time to process the situation on their own, he figured.

His mom was sitting on the couch in the living room, a cup of tea on the coffee table in front of her. 

She looked up when they entered. “I’m glad you’re all back.” She looked over at Spinel, “Thank you for checking on them, Spinel. Would you mind leaving Steven, Pink Agate, and me alone?” 

Spinel shook her head and with a cheerful wave goodbye she went into her room through the temple’s door. 

“So…?” Steven asked.

His mom sighed. “Given the fact that you've apparently been hanging out with Pink Agate since  _ last night _ , and he hasn’t harmed you, we’ve decided he’s not likely a serious threat.” 

“Great!” Steven said, relieved. “So he can stay then?”

“Well. He can’t stay  _ here _ .” Rose said. “We don’t have enough rooms in the house. And Bismuth isn’t willing to make him his own dimensional temple room like ours until we’ve established he’s completely safe. 

Steven nodded as he glanced over to the temple door that was decorated with the stones belonging to each of the gems from his family. “Okay, I understand.”

“So he’ll have to find somewhere else for now.” She said.

Pink clenched Steven’s hand and he squeezed back reassuringly. 

“I already have a place for him.”

“You do?” His mom asked.

“Yeah.” Steven answered. “The lighthouse. No one else goes there but me these days. We can even lock the lower building’s door so humans don’t wander inside. No one will complain, it hasn’t been used as an actual lighthouse in decades and dad owns it anyway.” 

His mom nodded. “That’s a good idea, I can’t think of any reason that wouldn’t work.” 

She narrowed her eyes. “But he has to  _ stay _ in there until morning. We talked and we don’t feel comfortable about him wandering the house while you’re sleeping unless someone was out keeping an eye on him.” 

That was fair, he supposed. 

Steven could sense Pink wasn’t thrilled at the prospect but, well, they had to make a compromise  _ somewhere _ . 

“Now,” His mom continued. “It’s nearly evening. We need to have a serious talk about this, Steven.”

He winced. Ah, of course. He knew a lecture was coming, it was amazing he’d avoided it for as long as he had. 

She turned to look at Pink. “I also need to talk to you as well, and go over some house rules about you staying here. I think it would be best if you go wait in the lighthouse while I talk to my son.” 

Steven felt a wave of stubborness radiate from Pink and squeezed his hand again. 

“Can I give him something first before he goes? So he’s not bored?”

She thought about it for a moment before she said, “Yes, and then come back.”

Oh jeez. He was not looking forward to the ear full he was going to get.    


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.   


Steven led Pink up the stairs to his room. 

He sighed as he shut the door, “I’m sorry you have to stay in the lighthouse, it’s just until they calm down.” 

Pink nodded, “It’s fine. I understand why.” He was putting on a brave face but Steven could feel his sadness. 

“I know you don’t like the idea of us being separated.” Steven answered.

Pink leaned forward and hugged him.  _ I don’t like not being able to feel you. I like being close to you because I know where you are. _

Steven gave him a light squeeze, “I know. I feel the same. Also, good job telling me what you like and don’t like.”

“You said you wanted me to.” Pink said, recalling Steven’s request for Pink to be honest with him. 

That reminded Steven, “I wanted to ask you something, if it was okay first.”

Pink tilted his head, “What is it?”

“What you told me today, about your friend and that bad gem who Spinel reminds you of. Would it be okay if I shared that with my mom?” When he sensed Pink’s hesitation, Steven gently pressed, “It might help them understand you better. Everyone in my family has lost someone, so they’d get it. But if you’re not comfortable with me telling them, I promise I won’t.”

Pink seemed to deliberate about that. “...Yes. That’s fine. You can tell them, if you think it would help.”

Steven smiled. “ Thanks, I think it will. Oh! And before you go, take this,” He leaned over to his shelf and gave Pink the handheld game they’d been playing earlier that day. “It’s an easy game to get lost in, have fun with it, the charge should last all night. But I know there are some books and stuff up in the lighthouse too that I’ve left.”

Pink nodded his head and hugged the game console to his chest. “Thank you, I wish we could play together though.”

Steven ruffled his hair. “I know, it sucks. But this is just for a while until they calm down. It’s not forever, okay?”

Pink leaned into him for comfort and Steven’s reflex to hold him came as naturally as breathing. 

“Hey, I have an idea for tomorrow.” Steven said. “ I know you’re not excited about having to stay in the lighthouse at night. But, it could still be fun to have your own space.” He leaned back a bit to look at Pink. “My family has a barn in the countryside we could go to. We could grab some stuff from there to give the lighthouse some character since it’s really basic right now.” 

Pink did like the idea of him and Steven doing that together. He nodded, “Okay, I want to go.”

Steven made a thoughtful noise, “I’ll probably need to bring one of the gems, I don’t think they’re comfortable with me driving off somewhere alone with you yet.”

_ As long as it’s not Spinel.  _ Pink thought at him warily.

“No, it’ll probably be Amethyst.” Steven reassured before he smiled, “I doubt she’ll refuse an invitation to go to the barn with us.”

Pink was fine with Amethyst. He just couldn’t stand Spinel. 

“Okay. I’m sorry but I really have to go before mom hunts me down.” Steven smiled at him, “Have a good night, okay? Come down in the morning and I’ll make you some breakfast.”

Pink lingered for one last hug before he jumped up into the air towards the lighthouse.

Steven waved at him before walking back into his room and closing the glass door behind him. He sighed and pressed his forehead against the cool glass. 

And now, it was time to meet his maker. 

Literally. 

Steven stepped back down the stairs to see his mom on the couch.

Rose gave Steven a look as she stood up. “My room. Now.”

Oh boy. 

Steven walked with her towards the temple door and entered her room which usually looked like something out of a fanciful dreamscape with a soft pink sky and gently floating clouds. 

He noticed the pink sky above them darken to a mauvish purple and the clouds swirled slowly around the room. 

Wow. She was _ definitely _ in a bad mood.

Steven sat down on one of the low clouds and watched his mother pace back and forth in front of him as she tried to collect herself.

“Do you have any idea what was going through my mind when you brought that gem downstairs?” She asked him in a strained voice.

Steven fidgeted nervously, “Um...that you were glad he wasn’t a  _ raccoon _ ?”

She whipped her head at him. “I am not  _ joking _ , Steven. This is serious. You  _ can’t  _ do anything like this ever again.”

“Bring a friend home?” He asked, playing innocent.

His mom frowned at him, “You  _ know _ that’s not what I mean. Hiding a gem- or anything dangerous like this from us. You  _ have _ to tell me.”

“Okay, you’re right. I know I should have handled it differently, I _am_ sorry about that.” he gestured at her with his hand, “But I don’t get this, you weren’t this freaked out that time I accidentally unbubbled centipeedle, or when I unbubbled Peridot on _ purpose _ . And both of them were the ones who were more dangerous and nearly hurt me.”

She stopped pacing and crossed her arms. “I know, but that was  _ different _ .”

“How? I mean, Centipeedle is the erratic, unpredictable one and Peridot was our enemy at the start. Pink’s neither of those things so why does he bother so much?” Steven frowned. “Out of all the gems, I thought you’d be at least a _ little _ happy to see a friendly new gem. Why is it so different?”

“It just is!”

“But, mom-”

She breathed out sharply, “Because of  _ Jasper _ . It’s different, because of  _ Jasper _ .”

Rose clawed a hand through her own hair. “It keeps turning over and over in my head. What if he’d  _ hurt _ you? What if something had happened to you and we didn’t know about it until-- until it was too late? ”

“Pink Agate and Jasper are  _ nothing  _ alike.” Steven said as he clenched his fingers into his jeans. “Jasper’s a  _ monster _ , she doesn’t care about anything except domination and hurting people.”

Rose shook her head. “What if he’s the same? We don’t know  _ anything _ about him, Steven. He seems harmless, I agree, but what if he’s from Homeworld? What if they sent him here to hurt us, to hurt  _ you _ ?”

“Okay, look. Pink told me what happened, a little bit anyway. His friend was shattered and  _ that’s _ why he’s so scared of being alone. He said some homeworld gem who reminded him of Spinel did it. And second of all he said he’s from earth, not Homeworld.”

His mom frowned, “And you’re sure he’s telling the truth?”

“Yes! He doesn’t want to hurt me. He would have done it by now, he’s had plenty of opportunities. He even listened to me when I asked him to not use his powers when I introduced him to you” Steven insisted, “He’s just scared, and sad, and alone. And I want to  _ help  _ him.”

His mom ran her hands over her face. “I know. I  _ know _ that you care so much about people, always putting others first. You get that from your dad.”

Steven gave her a half smile. “I get it from  _ you _ too. ”

She sighed as she walked over and sat on the cloud next to him, wrung out from her emotions as she looked across her room.

“I _ used _ to be that way, I think. Or at least I tried to be.” She said.

“Well, what changed?” He asked.

She turned to look at him, a complicated expression on her face. 

She reached out to stroke his cheek, “I had  _ you _ . And when I did, I was never the same. I mean that in the best possible way, Steven. Having you  _ changed _ me, you made me grow in a way I never thought was possible as a gem. You’re the center of my world, and I don’t think I could stand it if anything ever happened to you.” 

“Oh.” He said, unsure of what to say in response to that. 

His mom clenched her eyes shut. “I know _ logically  _ that you’re a  _ human _ and someday you’re going to be gone. And I’m still going to be here, but I’m not ready for that day. I can’t even stand to think about it. I love you too much.” 

“I love you too, mom.” 

Rose pushed his hair back, “And then that whole episode with  _ Jasper  _ a few months ago...when I almost didn’t get to you in time and-” She sucked in a breath, cutting herself off. 

Steven reached up to cover her hand with his. “Is  _ this  _ why all of a sudden I haven’t been able to go with you and the gems anywhere lately to find rogue gems? Don’t think I haven’t noticed a  _ mysterious _ uptick in missions I can’t go on due to my quote, ‘human physiology’. Because there were never that many  _ before _ .”

Rose bit her lip and gave him a guilty expression. “I’m not great at hiding things from you, am I?”

He shrugged. “I’m more like you than you seem to think. I’m bad at hiding things too.”

She laughed lightly. “It’s true.”

“You could have just  _ told _ me.” Steven said to her. “Just say, ‘I want you to take a break from gem stuff because of that time you almost died.’” He huffed, “I’d prefer that instead of trying to go over my head about it.”

Rose looked at him uncertainly, “Would you listen to me if I asked you to stop?”

“Stop going on missions for a while? Yeah, sure. I can take a break and work at Dad’s music store more. Lars has been asking for shorter hours when Sadie visits next month anyway.”

She shook her head. “No, I mean stop being a _ gem warrior _ .”

He gave her a stricken look. “I- I don’t even know what that would _ be _ like. I’ve been one basically since I was a kid.”

“I know.” She said softly as she looked down. “I don’t want to take that away from you.” 

“Okay, so I’ll take a break from missions for a while. It’ll give me more time to help Pink out.” He laughed, “I feel like he’s gonna be a full time job anyway.”

She squeezed his shoulders. “You have to swear to me, Steven. You have to swear that you’ll tell me if he hurts you.”

“He won’t.” Steven answered. And it was true, he could feel that with a certainty that resonated down to the marrow of his bones. 

“Even so,” She insisted.

He sighed. “I swear if he tries to hurt me, I’ll tell you.”

She sat back. “Alright, good.”

Steven leaned on the cloud and watched as the deep purple sky above them gradually lighted back to a soft shade of petal pink. He'd expected this to be worse, but his mom had been more scared than she'd be angry. He felt guilty for that, he never meant to hurt her.

"Sorry again, mom."

She smiled. "It's alright. I know you just did it because you want to help him. Just- no more hiding strange gems from us."

"I won't, I promise."

“Oh and Steven?” She said.

“Mmm?”

“You're grounded.”

He laughed, “Yeah, I guess that’s fair.”   
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.   
  


Pink had been alone in the lighthouse for maybe ten minutes when Rose Quartz suddenly appeared, delicately stepping down from the railing of the lighthouse onto its balcony.

“I just want to talk to you without all the others. I’m sure that was intimidating.” She said.

The Crystal Gems didn’t scare him, but he’d been worried they might have decided that he wasn’t worth the risk. They needed to trust him so he would be able to stay with Steven like he wanted. 

Rose stared at Pink with searching eyes.

“When I first saw you, in the moment, I assumed you had shapeshifted to look like my son.” Her eyes roved over him. “But the more I look at you, the more  _ differences _ I see.”

She walked around him. “Corruption features aside, like your horns and markings, there are other things also. You don’t have any of his ear piercings. Your hair is longer, your face is a little softer, and you’re actually a couple inches shorter than him, too.” She tilted her head. “I was confused. Why would you shapeshift into an _ imperfect  _ copy of him?” Rose leveled him with a look. “I realized you’re not an botched copy of him. You look almost exactly like Steven did when he was _ sixteen. _ ”

Pink felt his body tremble. His original Steven back in his own timeline had died at sixteen and even though that was  _ ten  _ years ago, Pink seemed to have been frozen in time and his body didn’t physically age anymore. He didn’t know if it was because he was fully gem now or if it was because of the trauma of losing Steven. Perhaps even both. 

“I don’t understand.” Rose continued, ignorant of the crisis he was going through. 

“Frankly, the implications of that...scare me. Either, you’ve been watching my son for the past two years _ , _ and he didn’t tell me because he was keeping you a secret, or he didn’t  _ know _ you were watching him that whole time.”

Pink shook his head. 

Rose frowned. “No? No to both?” She took a step towards him, “Why can’t you just _ tell  _ me?”

Pink tensed and crossed his arms, hugging himself, wanting to go to Steven. He could feel his body shaking from the desire to be close to his human. 

Rose Quartz sighed and rubbed her forehead. “I trust my son. He’s always had such good judgement when it comes to people, just like his dad.” A soft look crossed her face, “I love my two humans so much, they’re so  _ good _ . I don’t deserve such good, kind people to love me the way they do.”

She spun her wedding band around her finger. “I  _ want _ to believe Steven’s right about you. With all of these corrupted gems, we’ve never had any hope really and I just-” Rose cut herself off. “I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt. For  _ now _ .”

Rose Quartz stepped closer to him. “But I’m serious,  _ Pink Agate _ -” her eyes became hard and cold as diamonds. “If you  _ hurt  _ my son, it will be the _ last _ thing you ever do. He’s wonderful, and brave, and beautiful, and  _ mine _ . He’s the most important thing in this world to me, and I would fight in  _ another  _ thousand year war for him if I had to.” Her fists clenched and her voice growled, “ _ Don’t _ make me regret trusting him with you.”

Pink wondered what she would say if he admitted that their feelings for Steven were basically mirrors of each other. He only nodded though and tried to make himself look appropriately contrite, even though Rose’s threats didn’t truly scare him.

After all, in his world  _ she’d  _ been the one to cause the most pain and irrevocable damage to Steven over the years.

She sighed and deflated a little. Clearly, she didn’t enjoy playing the role of intimidator.

“Good.” She said. “I really,  _ truly _ hope that this works out.”

_ It will.  _

Pink had a second chance to live a life that included Steven. He wouldn’t do anything to destroy it. He didn’t know if he’d be able to endure losing his precious human a second time. 

After Rose Quartz left, Pink paced the lighthouse.

He wanted to stay here. But more importantly, he wanted Steven to  _ want _ him to stay here.

He didn’t know what he had to offer his human though. To protect him, of course. That went without saying. Even if Steven would probably say he didn’t need another protector. Not when he had a small army of gems who clearly adored him. But one more was even better, right?

The problem though was Pink’s powers were  _ erratic _ . The corruption made them difficult to control.

It made him nervous that he’d summoned his shield back when they were in the lighthouse together. He hadn’t meant to. One moment he was about to beg Steven not to leave, the next his shield wrapped around Steven, keeping him from being able to. 

That was  _ scary _ . That he’d used his powers without intending to. 

That he’d used his powers on  _ Steven  _ like that. 

And then when Steven had said that phrase- the same one his other half had once said. It had startled him and made the television project the memory. 

He hadn’t used his powers very much in the past few years. Never needed to. Not when he had barely left his departed half’s room. 

But, he’d been able to heal Steven. He’d been able to gently float with him down to Steven’s room. So he had some sort of control over them, but they seemed more closely tied to his emotions than before. 

Steven made him emotional by nature, so that was  _ trickey _ . If he wanted to be able to stay here, Pink needed to get a better handle on himself. He had to prove he was more than some warped, broken corruption. 

Pink was pacing faster across the floor and realized he was working himself up into a panic. He needed to calm down, but Steven wasn’t here right now and Pink didn’t want to get him in trouble by sneaking into his room. Pink walked over to the couch and wrapped the blanket around him. It had only trace amounts of Steven’s fragrance from last night, and it was better than nothing. 

He could feel the erratic pulse in his gem dissipate and tried to calm himself down. 

Pink didn’t have a plan. Originally he was just supposed to see that Steven was safe in this reality so he could have some closure and return to his old world and start actually  _ living _ in it instead of haunting it the way he had for the past decade.

He hadn’t prepared for this, to see Steven and promptly lose his mind over seeing his other half safe and alive.

Pink hadn’t expected Steven to accept him with barely a blink and insist he  _ stay _ . Or for Steven to hold him in his arms and treat him with such warm love and gentle care. 

He didn’t know what he was supposed to do in this new world. 

Pink existed for Steven and that was all he knew.   
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Hours later, it was well into the night and Pink obediently stayed in the lighthouse, even if he didn’t like it. 

Objectively, he agreed it would be fair of the gems to have him stay there at least until they knew they could trust him for sure.

Of course, that didn’t soothe the instinctive, need to be near Steven that clawed at the back of his gem. 

Steven had given him the handheld console to continue the cute game they’d played together earlier, and it was a fun distraction at least. Steven had encouraged him to have fun with it so Pink changed the character to look more like Steven, imagining he was helping him gather peaches and catching night moths. 

Pink was still playing the game when he suddenly felt a cold spike of fear stab through his chest, it was overwhelming enough that he felt the core of his gem fissure in response to an unseen threat. 

He realized those weren’t his feelings and stood up from the couch in alarm.

Just as suddenly it went, he felt it again, more intensely this time. A terrorized panic that wasn’t his own slammed into him, making the game controller drop from his hands with how hard it overtook him. 

A violent image assaulted his mind-

_ Jasper, large and imposing--snarling as she stood over him. She viciously yanked him up by his arm, the bone snapping with an audible crack under her cruel grip. _

_ His screamed his throat raw as she also carelessly crushed his wrist- _

_ “You worthless  _ **_human_ ** _ -” Her mallet like fist reared back and was followed by an explosion of nauseating pain behind his eye socket- _

Pink pushed through the fear choked haze. 

Memories? But no, not his-

Steven’s. They were  _ Steven’s _ memories. 

Pink managed to mentally detach himself from the gut twisting emotions and staggered to the lighthouse railing before leaping off of it. He expedited his fall and landed quietly on Steven’s balcony. 

Praise the stars, Steven had left the glass door unlocked. Pink would have snapped it open but he was trying to be quiet. He silently moved into the room, his eyes scanning the darkness for danger before they landed on his human.

Steven was in his bed, but he sounded _ terrified  _ as he sobbed brokenly like he was being tortured. Pink's gem ached as he quickly crossed the room to him.

Rose Quartz could take a long walk off a cliff, he wasn’t leaving Steven alone like this. 

He reached out to touch Steven’s face gently, careful the claws of his fingers didn’t catch on his skin as he stroked his cheek. “Steven, you’re safe, it’s just a nightmare.”

Steven shuddered and instantly turned into the touch, “ _ Pink- _ ” 

Pink thought he’d woken up but realized Steven was talking in his sleep, whimpering out his name like a plea for help. 

Alright.

Pink pushed back the covers, and while he’d wondered at the purpose before, the weighted blanket and extra pillows made sense to him now. Obviously they helped Steven feel secure, even if they weren’t working right now. 

As soon as Pink pulled the covers over both of them he tugged Steven close. Steven’s arms immediately wrapped around him, and pushed his face into Pink’s chest. He was no longer crying but his breaths were fast and shallow as he still struggled through his nightmare. 

Pink held him tightly and tried to concentrate. Steven was in pain but he didn’t have to be. Pink brought up the memory of them in Steven’s room from earlier that day. 

He pictured them sitting on his soft bed playing video games while the gentle morning light filled the room and the sounds of the ocean could be heard alongside the soft music of the game. He filled up the memory with as much warmth and safety and love as he could before he imagined wrapping it around Steven like a blanket, fluffy and spun from pink sugar.

He stroked Steven’s hair, relieved when his fast, ragged breaths gradually slowed down. 

Pink kissed Steven’s forehead, infusing more love and warmth into him so his dreams would be sweeter. Steven gave a soft noise and cuddled against Pink, his body no longer tense with fear and stress. 

Pink relaxed now that his human wasn’t being haunted by bad memories anymore and stroked his fingers through Steven’s hair, calming himself down. 

His sweet Steven. Since they had met, his human had been reassuring Pink and taking care of him and being  _ so  _ patient with him by considering his feelings and healing his anxieties. It was more than Pink could have hoped for to be honest, and definitely more than he deserved. 

Steven must have known something inside of Pink was broken because he could see his despair reflected in his own. 

Pink hadn’t known his trauma was  _ this _ bad though. He’d assumed that because Rose Quartz was here, he’d been taken care of better than the Steven in his world had been. 

Different world, different time. 

But he supposed some things never changed. 

He pushed a hand up the back of Steven’s shirt so he could warm him better with the heat of his touch on his bare skin. In response, he felt Steven nuzzle his face into his neck and relax further into his arms.

Oh  _ stars _ . If he could just wrap this boy in a cocoon of love and protect him from every evil thing, he would. Pink could at least try to undo some of the damage that had been done to Steven already. And prevent any more from happening. 

Fury kindled in the core of his gem, radiant and lustrous.    


Anger at Jasper, who just as in his reality, had clearly caused unspeakable pain to Steven in the past. He would never allow that to happen again. If she did, it would be the last thing she’d ever do. 

But he was also angry at the gems for allowing Steven to suffer alone like this. Did they even notice that he kept this fear hidden away in his heart like a thorn lodged deep inside?

Fine. This was part of his purpose wasn’t it? Existing for Steven meant he’d care for him to, as  _ clearly _ he was in dire need of it. 

He wouldn’t leave Steven alone with the shadows that haunted him. At the very least, Pink could be try to be the light that chased them away.   
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.   
  


It was still in the dark hours of the morning when Steven woke up.

For the second time in a row, Steven woke up clinging to Pink like he was a beloved, favorite toy rather than a new friend he’d barely known for a full day. 

“P-Pink?” Steven asked, embarrassed as he pulled away to rest his weight onto his elbows. “You’re here? I’m sorry- did I-”

Pink stroked a lock of hair away from his forehead. “Go back to sleep. You need three more hours of it, you’ve only had five.” His soft voice said in the darkness of the room. 

Steven hesitated. This is probably the part where Steven should tell Pink he was supposed to be in the lighthouse as per his mother’s orders, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

Instead he settled back down into Pink’s warm arms and tucked his head underneath his chin. He inhaled and the scent of lushly sweet roses relaxed him. 

“I was having a really bad dream- I have those a lot.” Steven said. “But then it went away and it became  _ nice _ . That’s never happened before.”

“Bad  _ memory _ .” Pink replied as he stroked Steven’s back.“I replaced it with a better one.”   
  
Steven blushed when he realized Pink’s hand was underneath his shirt, but didn’t ask him to remove it. Pink was very warm and it felt nice. Steven was almost chronically cold, it’s why he wore long sleeves even in warm weather and had an impressive collection of hoodies and sweaters. 

“You did? But how did you know I was having- oh. Was it that thing we have?”

Pink sighed, “Yes. You were so soaked with terror I thought someone was a _ ttacking _ you at first.”

“Sorry.” Steven replied, embarrassed. 

“Why?”

“Because, I made you feel all of that  _ bad  _ stuff.” Steven answered, ashamed. He didn’t know how to keep his emotions from bleeding across this strange bond they seemed to share though. 

Pink lifted him up so his glowing eyes could look into Stevens. “Don’t ever be sorry for that. I like being able to help you.”

Steven flushed, “Thank you.”

Pink relaxed again and turned them so that they were on their sides facing each other. He frowned when he got a look at Steven’s face. “You bit yourself.”

Steven licked his bottom lip and tasted a copper tang along with a slight stinging sensation.

“Oh. Yeah, I didn’t even feel it.”

His hand cupped Steven’s face and in the next moment Pink was kissing him.

Steven squeaked when Pink’s tongue licked at his mouth and he felt the sting pleasantly fade away. 

“Oh-” Steven breathed as he felt that overwhelming sensation again, just like the last time Pink kissed him. That wonderful, melty feeling that made him go weak. 

He whined when Pink pushed him onto his back and deepened the kiss, his arms curling around Steven’s waist. Pink’s tongue pushed into his mouth and Steven clung to him. Sweet, how did Pink taste  _ sweet _ ?    
  
A pleasant spark thrummed and radiated through his body. He felt that urge again, to pull Pink close to him, to cling and hold him tightly like he had back at the lighthouse. To lose himself in the safety of Pink’s arms. 

Steven forced himself to break off from the kiss, his pulse going a mile a minute. “Wait- It’s better. You don’t have to keep doing that.”

Pink leaned away. “...what do you mean?” 

“Um. Your power? I’m fine- you don’t have to keep um, doing that. It’s better, my cut is gone.” 

The corner of Pink’s mouth lifted into an impish smile. “I know.”

Steven’s face burned with a blush he felt all the way to his ears. “Oh.”

He fidgeted under Pink’s bright eyed gaze. He wanted to kiss him again, but that was wrong, wasn’t it? They barely knew each other!

A part of himself Steven didn’t recognize insisted this wasn’t wrong. Pink belonged to him, they were  _ supposed  _ to be together. It was the same feeling he had the first time he’d seen Pink in his bed. That he was meant to be there. 

Pink had to know how he felt. Because right now Steven could sense that Pink felt the same way. 

He looked away from the captivating glow of Pink’s eyes.

“O-Okay. Um, I should probably sleep again. Like you said.”

Pink didn’t argue, instead he nodded and gave Steven a hopeful look, “Can I stay?”

There was no way Steven was going to kick Pink out of his room in the middle of the night. Especially not after he’d helped Steven sleep better.

And healed him.

And kissed him. 

“Of course you can stay.”

Pink smiled before he touched their foreheads together and Steven giggled when their noses bumped into each other. 

Steven settled back down and let Pink move into the position he wanted which was with his ear pressed against Steven’s chest. “You’re heart beat is so loud.”

Steven didn’t doubt it, he was convinced he could feel his heart thudding against his rib cage like it was trying to escape. “Um, yeah.”

Steven thought maybe Pink was teasing him but instead felt a wave of peaceful calm radiate from him.

Pink didn’t move, and nuzzled closer against Steven’s chest. “Is this okay? I like being able to hear it.”

_ That _ certainly didn’t help his pulse slow down at all. 

“Sure, that’s fine.” Steven said and his voice definitely didn’t crack, nope. 

Pink sighed as he relaxed and Steven found himself absently combing his fingers though Pink’s soft hair and inhaled his sweet rose smell. 

Steven didn’t think he’d be able to fall asleep again but somehow he did. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Soft morning light trickled into Steven's room but that wasn’t what woke him.

“Oh don’t worry he’ll be in the light house, mom, he’ll totally stay there so don’t worry about it, mom. He totally won’t  _ crawl into bed with me _ , mom” Amethyst mocked in a deep voice while she was shape shifted to look like Steven.

“Why’re you in here?” Steven asked in a bleary voice as he woke up.

Amethyst scoffed from where she was standing in the doorway, “Rose wanted me to check on you to make sure Pink Agate didn’t wander into your room. Imagine my surprise when I saw he totally freaking did.”

At least she had closed the door so the rest of their family wouldn’t hear her. Steven supposed this is the part where he should be feeling guilty for breaking his mom’s rule as Pink was curled so closely against his chest, he might as well have been a second skin. 

Instead he threw a pillow at her and grumbled. “If you promise not to tell mom I’ll make  _ paella _ for dinner tonight.”

“Deal.” Amethyst shape shifted back to her own form and lobbed the pillow back at him. Pink phased a gem faceted shield up so the pillow bounced off before it could hit Steven.

“Dude. No powers in the house.” Amethyst said without any actual authority in her voice as she sat backwards on Steven’s desk chair.

“That rule was literally made because of  _ you _ .” Steven said as he sat up and rubbed his hands over his face. “Pink, bud, you need to go back to the lighthouse so we can at least  _ try _ to pretend like you haven’t been here all night.”

“Good luck with that.” Amethyst said with a grin. “Pinkster over there smells like flowers and it’s like there’s a rose garden in here. You better open a window or something.”

Steven wasn’t going to dignify that with a response. He also definitely noticed Pink hadn’t even budged from his spot on the bed and his arms were still wrapped around Steven’s waist.

Steven didn’t have the heart to make him actually leave.

“I’m going to the barn today to grab some things for the lighthouse. You wanna come with?” Steven asked Amethyst.

“Pfff right. So you can ‘decorate’ because he’s  _ totally _ going to be living there.” Amethyst said with a raised eyebrow. “You’ve known him for like a day. What is _ with  _ you two?”

Steven raised his eyebrow and gave her a pointed look. “I don’t know, Amethyst. What’s with you and  _ Peridot _ ?”

Amethyst blushed, “Dude, shut  _ UP _ .”

Steven flopped back onto the bed. “Don’t dish if you can’t take it, Ames.”

She knocked a pencil cup off his desk because she was petty that way.

“Meet you downstairs, dorks.” Amethyst said in parting as she left. She at least had the decency to close the door on her way out. 

_ So, do the gems make it a habit of just coming into your room  _ **_whenever_ ** _? _ Pink asked.

Steven tapped his finger onto one of Pink’s horns. “I’m gonna stop you right there, bud, because you have absolutely _ no  _ box to stand on for that argument.”

_ Touché _ . Pink replied without a trace of shame.   
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

They got up and Steven went downstairs first. He let Pink in through the front door when Pink went around the back of the house to the front to make it look as though he was visiting from the lighthouse.

He did admit it was unsettling to have every member of Steven’s gem family stare over at him.

Well, Amethyst winked and did finger guns at him.

Steven smiled at him cheerfully. “Morning, Pink. Do you wanna help me make some breakfast?”

Pink nodded instantly and dutifully followed Steven to the kitchen where his human pulled out a cheese grater and a block of cheese from the refrigerator. 

“Okay, so if you don’t mind, I’d like some of this cheese shredded. You just rub the cheese down the grater like this, think you can do that until the bowl is full?”

_ Yes _ , Pink replied and set to his new task while Steven chopped some tomatoes next to him. 

He honestly appreciated the distraction Steven had offered him. Pink could feel the eyes of every gem on him the moment he’d walked in and he didn’t like their attention.

Slowly, he heard them turn back to their own conversations they’d been having before he’d walked in. He relaxed, happy to fade into the background of their awareness. 

Amethyst hiked herself up to sit on the counter next to Steven.

“Here you go, Ames.” Steven said as he handed her a bowl of broken eggshells from the eggs he’d used.

“Aw, yisss.” She said excitedly before tossing the broken shells into her mouth in one mouthful.

Steven stirred the eggs in the pan and lowered the heat. In a very casual voice he said, “Guys, after breakfast I’m taking Pink with me to the barn to get some stuff for the lighthouse.”

“Hey, can I come with you?” Amethyst asked with a grin, acting like they totally hadn’t just had the conversation earlier. 

“Sure.” Steven agreed easily. 

Pink could feel Pearl’s dissatisfaction with the whole situation but ignored her. She eyed him distrustfully from her position on the couch. 

“I believe I recall saying you were  _ grounded _ .” Rose said to Steven as she walked over.

“C’mon mom,  _ please _ ? We’re just going to the barn and straight back. Well, and the grocery store. I promised Amethyst I’d make  _ paella  _ for dinner.”

Rose seemed to think about it before she said reluctantly, “I  _ suppose _ that’s fine then.”

Bismuth spoke up from the table with a smirk on her face. “Why do you even  _ bother _ trying to ground him anymore? You say a week and the most you last is three days, max.”

Garnet smiled. “I remember last time it wasn’t even a day before she was caving into those brown puppy eyes.”

“The way I remember it, it wasn’t even  _ twelve hours _ .” Bismuth replied with a laugh. "How long did you last this time? _Eight_ hours?"

Rose plucked a chopped tomato from the bowl. “Mind your own  _ bismuth _ .”

Bismuth cackled and dodged the piece of tomato Rose threw at her. 

“Don’t waste food.” Steven chided absently as he scraped the chopped tomatoes into the pan of eggs alongside the cheese Pink had grated. 

“Yes  _ boss _ .” Bismuth said from her seat. 

Spinel walked over to them with a cheery smile, “Can I come too?”

Pink felt himself twitch, but Rose put her hand on Spinel’s shoulder. “Actually, I was wondering if _ I  _ could ask for your help today?”

Spinel lit up excitedly, “Really?!”

Rose nodded, “I need some help with the rose garden by my fountain. Think you can help me prune it?”

Spinel gave a noise of pure glee, “Of course I can!”

Pink looked up to notice Steven giving Rose a grateful look while she winked at him. 

Ah, so that’s what was going on. Steven had promised to help buffer Spinel, he must have told Rose Quartz about Pink’s aversion to her. 

He felt a hand stroke through his hair and looked up to see Steven giving him a soft smile. Pink leaned into his touch and felt his gem warm. Steven really was too nice. 

Once the eggs were done Steven set them out on plates along with toast for the gems who wanted to eat. 

Pink quietly sat next to Steven and sipped the coffee Steven had given him to drink. Pink wanted to feed him again like he had with the donuts but had a feeling it wouldn’t go over well with the gems. He’d ask if he could the next time they were eating alone together. 

He felt eyes on him and glanced up to see Spinel watching him from her spot on the couch. He ducked his eyes away and focused on the food his human had made for him.

Steven caught his attention. “Is it good?” He asked.

The eggs were fluffy and cheesy with tomatoes to balance it out nicely.    
  
_ Yes _ ,  _ thank you, I like them. _

“Of course, thank you for your help with making them!” He smiled, “Want to help me make dinner tonight too?”

He nodded,  _ Yes I’d like that _

After breakfast Pink followed Steven upstairs while he gathered a backpack and a duffle bag along with his essentials for the day. 

“So, I just wanted to let you know.” Steven said as he put his lace up sneakers on, “I’m going to be introducing you to Peridot, remember how I told you about her yesterday?”

Pink nodded, “Yes. You said she was a new ally of yours.”

Steven slid his wallet into his back pocket. “Yeah. You don’t need to worry about her, she’s really nervous around new people. I know she was a homeworld gem and everything, but she’s come a long way.”  
  
If this Peridot was anything like the Peridot from his old world, then she was harmless. 

That reminded him, Peridot would be alone at the barn without Lapis Lazuli. Was Lapis still trapped in the mirror or in this world or had she successfully left the planet without being imprisoned during the war? Did she even  _ exist _ in this reality? He didn’t have a way of knowing without asking Steven and that would open a whole can of worms about how he even knew of her. 

He sighed as he pensively wondered. Small choices and things that seemed like insignificant differences could build up in a larger effect. This world was both intimately familiar to him but also very different. What else was different because of Rose Quartz’s decisions? Of other gems’ decisions? 

Pink was brought out of his thoughts when Steven’s hand brushed gently against his cheek. Pink blinked into awareness and looked up at Steven’s bemused face.

“There you are, I thought I lost you for a second.” He said. 

Pink gave him a confused look. “Lost?”

Steven tilted his head. “Yeah. You just kinda blipped out on me. One minute we were talking and then you just kinda zoned, I kept saying your name but you were totally out of it.”

Pink flushed in embarrassment, he’d never meant to ignore Steven. “I’m sorry.”

Steven was quick to reassure him, “What- No! It’s okay, nothing to be sorry for. I was just worried. Are you okay?” He carded his fingers through Pink’s hair, “We don’t have to go to the barn today if you’re not feeling up to it. I thought it would be a good distraction from my family but maybe it’s too many new things at once?”

Pink shook his head. “No, I’m fine. I want to go. It sounds like it’ll be fun.”

Steven hummed. “Okay, if you’re sure.” 

He nodded, “I am, really.”

When they came back downstairs, Amethyst was waiting by the front door. 

“One moment, Steven.” Rose said.

“Oh, sure.” He looked over at Pink and Amethyst, “Guys you wanna wait by the car? I’ll be there in a sec.”

Once they were gone Rose gave him a look, “You’re not taking your  _ sword _ ?”

Steven laughed, “I know the barn is a little rough, but I don’t think I need to bring a weapon there.”

His mom shook her head. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Mom.  _ C’mon _ . He’s been nothing but sweet. If he wanted to hurt me he would have done it by now.” 

Rose sighed. “I know. I know you can take care of yourself, too. I just-” She gripped his shoulder. “I have this feeling. I don’t know what it means.”

Steven raised an eyebrow. “Those are probably called ‘maternal instincts’.”

Rose grinned and playfully pinched his cheek, making Steven squeak. 

“Take your broadsword, okay sweetie?”

He gave a little huff, “ _ Fine _ .”   
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Steven, now with his broadsword, made his way to the car. He put it in the backseat on the floor before tossing the empty duffle bag and backpack into the trunk. 

“Hey Pink, you can get in the front if you want,” Amethyst said as she raised a hand to put it on Pink’s shoulder but he shied away before she could.

At her confused look Steven supplied, “Oh, sorry for not telling you earlier Amethyst but I don’t think he likes being touched by other gems.”

“Oh! Sorry, Pinkster.” Amethyst said. “I won’t try it again, promise.” 

Pink nodded, relieved Amethyst hadn’t made a big deal about it the way Spinel had. 

Amethyst didn’t seem to take personal offense to his rejection because she let out an excited whoop as she threw herself into the back seat. “ _ Yeaaah _ ! Road trip!”

“It’s just to the  _ barn _ .” Steven said as he slid into the driver’s seat. “It’s like a thirty minute drive there from the house.

“Are we driving on a  _ road _ to get there?” Amethyst asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“Well, yeah. The highway.”

She crossed her arms and sat back in her seat with a satisfied smile. “Then it’s still a _ road trip, _ dude. Those are the rules.”

Steven rolled his eyes with an amused smile but didn’t argue. “As you say, m’lady.”

He drove the car out on the main road of Beach City and pulled onto the highway. 

The drive up the I-A to the countryside wasn’t too long, especially since the barn was still located within Beach City’s county line. 

Pink sat quietly in the passenger seat next to Steven, watching the scenery go by. Beach City wasn't sunny and bright as it had been yesterday, instead the clouds darkened the sky to a soft shade of paynes gray. He could smell petrichor in the air, it must have rained during the night and he wondered if it would rain again later today. 

Just as he was thinking it, Steven said out loud, “It smells like rain. I wonder if we might get a little today.”

“Maybe.” Amethyst said before she leaned forward in her seat. “Soooo. We’re still having a movie night Friday, right?”

Steven didn’t take his eyes off the road but nodded, “Yeah! Of course. Why?”

“I just wanted to make sure that was still a thing.”

“Well, sure. Why wouldn’t it be?” He asked.

“I dunno, you like, got _ this _ guy to deal with now.” She said, gesturing to Pink who ignored her. 

Steven huffed. “I’m not  _ dealing _ with Pink, Amethyst. He’s our new friend.”

“Uh huh. Didn’t realize  _ friends  _ stuck to each other the way he was to you this morning.”

He flushed when Pink glanced over at him, radiating amusement. 

_ Tell Amethyst I’ll fight her in a Denny’s parking lot.  _

Steven barked out a surprised laugh, he hadn’t expected that from _ Pink _ , who’d been fairly mild mannered since they’d met. 

Pink smiled at him while Amethyst demanded to know what was so funny. 

“It’s nothing.” Steven replied. “Anyway, yes. Friday is movie night. Was there _ another _ reason you wanted to check that it was still on?”

Now it was Amethyst’s turn to flush lightly. “No, like I said. Just wanted to make sure.”

Steven angled the rear view mirror so he could see her better. “Really. So, you don’t want to invite a certain four foot tall green gem?”

“I mean, **_yeah_**. But she never wants to come over to our place!” Amethyst said in exasperation as she thumped back against the seat. 

Steven gave her a sympathetic look. “I know. Just be patient with her, she probably just feels a little awkward around mom still.”

Amethyst glared out the window, “It’s so lame! Like, I get it, she used to be loyal to Homeworld and Yellow Diamond. She tried to kidnap you and we fought her and stuff, but that was practically a hundred years ago.”

“It was three months ago, but yes, I understand.” Steven replied. “She’s anxious, Ames. We’ll ask her again today, and hopefully she’ll say yes this time. But don’t get mad at her if she says no, it’ll make her feel bad.”

Amethyst frowned. “Yeah, I won’t.”

  
  
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

A while later, Steven pulled off a highway exit onto the gravel covered road that led to the barn. 

The barn looked pretty much as Pink remembered it, with faded red paint that peeled in certain places. However, it didn’t have any holes in it and the truck that had been punched through the front of it in Pink’s old world was parked on the side, instead. 

The light turquoise truck was parked under a carport that looked new in comparison to the barn, and there was a workbench next to it with a toolbox.

“Are you gonna work on that old truck at all today?” Amethyst asked.

Steven shook his head as he parked his car. “No, I’m still waiting for some parts I ordered to come in, like the new alternator. Once they do though I’ll pick it back up.”

Pink blinked and looked at Steven in surprise.  _ You know how to fix cars? _

Steven nodded, “Yeah, I’ve always liked putting stuff together. Pearl taught me how to fix dad’s van when I was younger and now it’s a fun hobby for me.”

“Also free repairs for your friends.” Amethyst said with a roll of her eyes. “Remember when you were fifteen? Jenny janked up her car one of the times she snuck out and you fixed it before her dad found out?”

Steven laughed, “Yeah. Though she gave me free pizza for a month so that was a fair trade.”

Pink had assumed he knew everything about Steven and was shocked to find out he was still discovering things about his human. 

“Amethyst, Steven!” An excited and familiar voice called. “I wasn’t expecting you!”

Pink turned to see Peridot excitedly running over to them, only for her to screech to a halt once she noticed him.

Steven gave her an easy smile, “Hey Peridot! Hope you don’t mind us dropping by.”

“Oh, um, of course not.” She said as her eyes stayed trained on Pink. “But...who is that?” Her eyes widened as she backed up, “Is that a  _ corrupted gem _ ?!”

Amethyst snickered, “Don’t worry he doesn’t bite...that we know of.”

Steven elbowed Amethyst before he put an arm around Pink’s shoulders and pulled him next to him. “Peridot, This is Pink Agate, he’s recently joined our family. Pink, this is Peridot, the gem I told you about who helped us.”

"He's an _agate_?!" Peridot asked in alarm. 

Pink gave her a short wave in an attempt to appear non threatening. After a beat she gave him a tentative wave back.   
  
“Oh. Um, nice to meet you?” She said hesitantly.  


“He’s not super chatty.” Amethyst said. 

“Actually, he’s why we’re here,” Steven said. “He’s going to be staying at the lighthouse by the temple but we wanted to grab some stuff from the barn, is that cool?”

“Oh, sure!” Peridot said. “I mean, it’s  _ your  _ barn.”

“Yeah, but it’s your home, too. If there’s something that you want to keep just let me know. We’re mostly here just for decorations. I promise we won’t take any of the mechanical stuff you like.”

Peridot smiled, obviously appreciating Steven’s thoughtfulness. “Thanks.” She turned to Amethyst, “So, Amethyst! You’re a gem of taste. Wanna see the latest robotic fight suit I’ve been working on?”

Amethyst arched an eyebrow and grinned. “I dunno. Does it make stuff explode?”

“Amethyst,  _ please _ .” Peridot said as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “ _ Of course  _ it makes stuff explode, why is that even a question?”

Amethyst and Peridot walked off to the other side of the barn where Peridot had clearly been rigging together some sort of contraption. 

Steven turned to him, smiling. “Okay, so, here is your mission, Pink. We’re going to go through the barn and look for anything we could use to make the lighthouse more homey for you. If you see something you think looks like it’d look nice in the lighthouse, just set it aside and we’ll pack it in my car later.”

Pink didn’t know the first thing about interior decoration, and his instinct was just to nod along at whatever Steven asked of him...but Steven had requested that he was honest.

He fidgeted and Steven could tell he was unsure. “What’s wrong bud?”

_ I don’t know what looks good together with other things. _

Steven tilted his head. “I get you. Well, how about my room, do you like the way it looks? That might help you pick things out.”

_ I like it because it’s  _ **_yours_ ** _. _

Steven’s cheeks colored a little, “Oh.” He pushed his fingers through his hair, “Hmm, how’s this then. If you see something you think is interesting or that you like, just grab it. Don’t worry about decorating then, I’ll help with that. The point of this is to make the lighthouse a fun, comfy place for you to hangout in.”

Pink nodded and Steven tousled his hair playfully before walking off to go through some boxes. 

Pink looked around, still uncertain. Steven was looking through things on the first floor and though it was tempting just to hover next to him, Pink decided to check what was in the hayloft. He ignored the ladder and jumped up easily, landing on the pine floor of the loft.    


He saw a couch with an old television set up and some VHS tapes stacked next to it. 

And of course, there were lots of boxes and shelves everywhere.He felt a little overwhelmed, honestly. He didn’t know what interested him beyond Steven.

Playing video games together was fun, especially when Steven had been holding him close. He had also liked helping Steven cook breakfast that morning. Anything that let them spend time together, he liked. 

He poked through some piles of odds and ends, not really finding anything that he would want to bring back to the lighthouse. 

He lifted a blue plastic tarp that was covering a shelf full of old vintage novels. They were nearly all westerns, to his consternation and their covers had images of brooding cowboys on horses. 

Pink was about to put the tarp back down when he noticed a black box on the bottom shelf and picked it up out of curiosity. 

After dusting it off he realized it was a puzzle box. It was one thousand pieces and when put together made an image of a full moon with a backdrop of stars. 

The lighthouse had a coffee table by the couch, and he imagined him and Steven putting the puzzle together on top of it while they talked and listened to music or the waves of the ocean. 

Pink walked over to the edge of the landing and saw Peridot showing something to Amethyst while Steven was still going through boxes on the other side. 

He hopped from the hayloft and floated down next to Steven who smiled at him. “Find something you like, bud?”

_ Yes. _ Pink thought as he showed the puzzle to Steven.

“Oh, cool!” Steven said. “Great find, Pink. That would be fun for you to work on. And when it’s done, we can frame it.”

_ Could we do it  _ **_together_ ** _?  _ Pink asked shyly.

“Aw, of course we can. Here, don’t put it in the duffle bag with the other stuff I grabbed, I don’t want the box to get smushed. Why don’t you put it in the car?” 

Pink nodded and once he was out of the barn, Peridot turned to Steven with curiosity written across her features.

“So. I’m just going to ask since you’ve encouraged me to be honest in the past, Steven. Why is Pink Agate shapeshifted to look like you? It’s um,  _ unsettling _ .”

Steven flushed a little as he put a lamp aside for the ‘keep’ pile. “I don’t know. He was like that when I first saw him.”

“How did you meet him?” She asked.

“Um...Well, the gems were on a mission and I came home from my shift at dad's music store. I trained for a bit and then I went upstairs to put my stuff away and noticed something in my bed? When I lifted the cover to see, Pink Agate was there, sleeping in it.”

Amethyst dropped the shoe she’d been holding. “WHAT. He was in your  _ bed _ ?! And you didn’t  _ tell _ us?!”

“Yeah?” Steven said with a wince. 

At her look of exasperation he tried to smooth it over.

“When I saw him I just--left him alone to sleep. He seemed so peaceful, I didn’t wanna wake him. Eventually I noticed he was moving and when I checked on him he woke up and that’s how we met.”

Steven decided not to mention that the moment he saw Pink, he’d felt as though the gem was supposed to be there. Because he belonged with him. 

Amethyst slapped a hand over her forehead. “Oh my gosh Steven  _ whyyyy _ .”

Peridot tapped her chin. “Gems can’t hold shapeshifted forms forever. He’s never changed back?”

Steven shrugged. “Um, no. But, it’s possible he reverts when he’s alone. It’s not like we’ve been glued together.”

“S’not what it looked like to me this  _ morning _ .” Amethyst said while she waggled her eyebrows at him.

Steven rolled his eyes and threw a foam football at her that he’d found in a box.

Peridot gave Amethyst a confused look. “I don’t get it, did they use an adhesive of some sort to bond their forms together?”

Amethyst groaned, “Oh my gosh Peri, why are you like this?” 

“What?!” Peridot exclaimed. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Later, Steven packed up the car with the things he’d found. He found some large pots that were pretty, but they’d have to go to a nursery to get some nice plants for them. Some greenery would look nice and the windows of the lighthouse allowed a lot of sunlight to trickle in. 

Besides the puzzle he picked out, Pink had gotten a couple other items that had also interested him like a vintage rocket model building kit. He’d also found a quilt with constellations patterned onto it. Steven had been shocked to see it; it was really pretty and detailed. Luckily it hadn’t faded or gotten moth holes in it from its time in a dusty box. He wondered who on his dad’s side of the family had made it. Steven gently set it inside the trunk and decided to find a way to gently clean the dust bunnies off of it when they got home. 

Amethyst wandered over to him and made a throat clearing noise.

Steven blinked at her. “What?”

She gestured over to Peridot and he got the hint. Why she couldn’t just invite Peridot herself, he didn’t understand, but Amethyst was shy sometimes too. 

He turned to Peridot with a smile, “Oh! By the way, we’re having a movie night this Friday. You should come.” 

Peridot twiddled her fingers, “That’s really generous of you to offer again, Steven but maybe it’s not a good idea?”

Amethyst rolled her eyes, “C’mon Peri! You’ve turned us down every time we’ve asked. The gems like you, well  _ most _ of them.”

Peridot shuddered. “Rose Quartz is still mad at me for the time I captured Steven, I can tell. Especially considering that whole thing with Jasper...almost...killing...you.”

Pink flinched next to him and Steven would really like to not be reminded about how Jasper had practically broken his skull in so ignored that comment. He put his duffle bag inside the trunk before closing it. 

He sighed, “Look, she’ll probably never forget that but she’s not actually still _ mad _ about that. You helped us with the cluster and that’s something she’s really grateful for and won’t forget either.”

Peridot hesitated so Amethyst added, “Look, Pink’s gonna be there too! It’ll be his first movie night so it won’t just be you who’s new.” She grinned. “I guarantee Rose will be way more wound up about  _ him _ than you, she probably won’t even notice you because she’ll be too busy staring down the Pinkster.”

Steven frowned when he sensed Pink’s anxiety. “Okay, Amethyst.”

Amethyst raised her hands up, “I’m just saying! It’s the truth.”

Peridot fiddled with her hands. “You're _ sure  _ it’s okay?”

“I wouldn’t be inviting you if it wasn’t.” Steven assured. “They do like you, and I’d like to see you more than just when I visit the barn.”

She smiled shyly at him, “...Okay.”

Steven glanced over at Amethyst with a half grin. “And I know Ames would like you to come over more often too.”

Amethyst flushed and glared at him, “You know what-”

A loud, thunderous rumbling from above them interrupted her. 

Steven looked up at the sky, “Huh. I know it’s overcast out today but the forecast didn’t say we were getting a  _ thunderstorm _ .”

The deafening noise boomed again, but much louder and the group was shocked when the clouds in the sky were broken through by a crimson teardrop shaped spaceship. 

“What the heck is  _ that _ ?!” Amethyst yelled out as she backed up to stand in front of Steven. 

Peridot shrieked, “It’s a  _ Roaming Eye _ ! A Homeworld tracking vessel! They’ve found me!”

An eye shaped window lit up on the ship, creating a search light.

“Hide in the barn!” Steven said as he grabbed his sword from the car with one hand and grabbed Pink’s hand in the other. 

The four of them dashed just barely outside of the searchight’s area and ducked into the barn. 

“Why is a  _ Homeworld _ ship here?” Steven wondered in confusion. 

Peridot shivered, “It’s because of me! I insulted Yellow Diamond and now she’s sent an army after me!

“Just because you called her a  _ clod _ ?!” Amethyst asked in disbelief. “Isn’t this a  _ bit _ of an overeaction?!”

Steven huffed as they crouched down in a dusty corner of the barn. “From what I’ve heard, diamonds don’t have the  _ best  _ reputation in controlling their emotions.”

Steven really had  _ no _ idea, Pink thought to himself. 

“It’s all over! We’re gonna die here!” Peridot whimpered.

“Peridot, hey, it’s gonna be okay.” Steven said as he squeezed her shoulder. “It’s not all over for us, so let's see what we know. You said that ship was called a Roaming Eye, its purpose is to track Homeworld enemies?”

Peridot nodded tearfully at him, “Yes, and to keep watch at important areas and territories that require high levels of security.”

“Okay, good. Is it just for surveillance? I didn’t see any weapon ports on it, does it have blast cannons?” Steven asked in a hushed voice. 

“ _ Worse _ than blast canons.” Peridot answered with a haunted expression. “The eye window. It’s a searchlight but it can also shoot a superheated light ray that burns up to approximately fourteen hundred degrees of your earth Celsius measurement!”

Steven raised his eyebrows. That was well over two thousand degrees Fahrenheit, and certainly hot enough to melt the very ground they stood on. 

“Okay.” He bit his lip looking at the three of them. “We don’t have any long range weapons on us at the moment but I have a crossbow in the trunk of my car.”

“A  _ crossbow _ ?!” Amethyst whisper-shrieked at him.

Steven shushed her when the Roaming Eye got closer to them, the light bleeding through the cracks of the barn. 

“I know it’s not one of mom’s light cannons, but it’s better than  _ nothing _ !” Steven hissed back once the ship hovered away. “When it’s on the other side of the barn I can go get it!” 

_ Steven, I can take care of this for you.  _ Pink thought to him. __

Steven looked at him in alarm, “what- how?!”

Pink touched his face,  _ Just stay here, I’ll be quick.  _

Amethyst raised her eyebrows, “What’s going on? Where’s Pink going?”

“Pink, wait!” Steven said as he stood up from his crouch. 

He quietly hurried after Pink who had stepped outside of the barn and was exposed in the open.

The Roaming Eye spotted him and bathed him in the bright yellow light from its eye.

Pink recalled this ship, and the rubies that likely piloted it if it was the same situation as what happened on his old earth. 

He also remembered that in his original world, one of those rubies later attempted to kill his other half and left him trapped in space where he nearly died alone. Of course, Pink wouldn’t allow that future to repeat itself in this new reality. 

He remembered how Rose had bubbled Steven yesterday and imagined putting up a shield around the ship, something to keep it from causing damage, he’d probably be able to pull it to the ground the way Rose had manipulated Steven’s bubble. It stood to reason that anything she could do he could do also. 

Pink started to activate his power when he heard Steven’s voice behind him,

“Pink, please be careful!” His human called out. 

Pink felt Steven’s presence in his mind, radiating worry and  _ fear _ . 

There was a sharp, spasm like  _ twinge _ behind his gem, and instead of bubbling around the  _ ship  _ like he had planned, a wall shot up from the ground in between them and the Roving Eye. 

The thick barrier wrapped around the barn like a dome and each diamond shaped panel developed a spiked point that faced outwards towards the ship. 

Well. 

That hadn’t been Pink’s  _ intention, _ but he supposed this worked even better. He hadn’t even realized he was capable of making a shield this large. 

“Woah!” Amethyst said from behind them, gawking at the giant shield that now safely ensconced them. 

Peridot stepped out from the barn cautiously right behind her. “It’s  _ huge _ ,” She said in awe. “I’ve never seen a light shield this size before.”

The Roving Eye didn’t seem to think the barrier would be an issue, and a red light started to glow from within the eye.

Peridot clung to Amethyst, “It’s going to shoot the ray!”

Pink felt Steven come to stand next to him and reached back to hold his hand. 

_ It’s going to be okay, trust me. _

He didn’t feel any doubt from Steven, and his hand squeezed Pink’s as they stood together behind the shield. 

The ship fired, but the moment the ray hit the barrier, it bounced off Pink’s shield and directly back into the ship. 

A fiery explosion burst like a solar flare through the Roaming eye and the ship spun out, obviously compromised before it hit the ground with a crash that shook the earth. 

Pink didn’t drop the shield. Rubies were tough, and it was possible the Homeworld gems inside hadn’t had their forms dissipated from the explosion. 

There was a creaking groaning sound as the smoldering ship fell apart and the front hatch door suddenly lauched outward, as though it had been kicked open.

Pink was surprised that the gem who emerged from the wreckage of the ship wasn’t in fact a ruby, but rather a particularly enraged and unfamiliar orange gem with a rectangular reddish orange gemstone on her chest and a large crown of curly blond hair. She flung her diamond glittered cape out dramatically as she stood up.

“How.  _ Dare _ . You.” She growled, “Do you have  _ any _ idea who I am?!” She looked a little worse for wear, but she miraculously had been unharmed from the crash. 

Peridot cowered behind Amethyst. “That’s  _ Hessonite _ ! Oh, my stars, why did it have to be her?!”

“Hessonite?” Steven asked, unsheathing his sword without taking his eyes off the gem who stalked towards them. 

“She was one of the gems who led Yellow Diamond’s army during the war.” Peridot said in a trembling voice. “She’s  _ terrifying _ .” 

“Drop this shield  _ immediately _ !” Hessonite demanded in a booming voice.

Pink raised an eyebrow at her before glancing at Steven. 

_ Rude. She didn’t even say ‘please’.  _

Steven quirked a smile at him before he leveled his eyes at her. “Um.  _ Hessonite _ , is it? We’re not going to be doing that. And since you obviously came here with less than peaceful intentions, you need to leave now.  _ Please _ .”

She glowered at him, and drew a rapier sword from her gem to point it at him. “You  _ dare _ to give me orders, you absurd organic?! I am  _ Hessonite _ , elite gem warrior for the resplendent Yellow Diamond. This planet is under her jurisdiction.”

“Okay, well we don’t  _ recognize _ any of the diamonds from the intergalactic dictatorship known as the ‘Diamond Authority’ as our leader.” Steven replied. “Or their claim on the earth.”

Hessonite bristled, “Are you  _ simple _ ?! As an elite Hessonite, I will defend my illustrious diamond’s honor until I am shattered. Now surrender at once!”  
  
Amethyst scoffed “You already told us who you are, you popcorn looking mother fu-” Peridot slapped her hand over Amethyst's mouth. 

“Are you here for Peridot? ” Steven asked while Amethyst struggled to get Peridot’s hand off her mouth. “Because if you are, you can’t have her.”

Hessonite looked confused. “Who? I came for  _ Jasper _ ! She’s one of Yellow Diamond’s favorite soldiers and she’s been missing for  _ months _ !” 

Pink made a mental note to ask about that later. In his old world, at this time Jasper had been fused with Lapis as Malachite and imprisoned before the gems successfully separated them. However, Lapis either didn’t exist in this world, or she was still trapped in the mirror. So where was Jasper exactly?

Also he was curious as to why Hessonite was here instead of the team of rubies. Perhaps in this reality the diamonds decided to send a gem with more power.

“Well Jasper ain’t here, you  _ dip _ !” Amethyst yelled out at her, after successfully wrangling Peridot’s hand off of her. “She’s  _ gone _ , so step off our planet already!”

“Pink Agate  _ blew up her ship _ , how is she supposed to  _ leave _ ?” Peridot asked in a confused voice. 

“You are absolutely _ killing  _ me here, Peri.” Amethyst hissed back. “ _ Killing  _ me.”

“I am not!” Peridot shrilled back at her. 

Hessonite stepped forward, brandishing her blade. For some baffling reason, she slashed at Pink’s barrier, but of course her blade bounced back. 

Her face contorted in fury and kicked Pink’s shield. “You can’t hide in there forever, you might as well come out and  _ fight _ !”

Pink was getting the impression that this gem was used to getting what she wanted, if her haughty attitude was anything to go by. 

Steven’s grip on his sword tensed as he said to Pink in a hushed voice, “We’re gonna need to poof and bubble her. But that’s gonna be tricky. Bismuth told me stories about some Homeworld gems from the war, and after what Peridot told us, I bet this is the same Hessonite. Bismuth said she was incredibly vicious and  _ fast _ .    


Pink thought about how he could put a shield barrier around Hessonite and shrink it until her form safely dissipated to her gem state as he had originally planned to do with the ship. As long as she stayed in that spot, it should be easy. 

Hessonite’s lip curled in anger, “Don’t talk about me like I’m not even here, you  _ disgusting _ human! How dare you speak above me when you aren’t even fit to lick the  _ filth  _ from my boots!” 

Steven didn’t react to her taunt beyond a raised eyebrow as he asked, “Um. Gross. Why would I _ want _ to do that, anyway?” 

Pink narrowed his eyes at her in a fiery glare as he felt an angry heat pulse through his gem. His lip curled up as he bared his teeth at her in a snarl.

Okay.

Pink walked through the shield to face her head on. 

“Finally coming out to fight?!” She crowed, “I won’t go easy on you, especially not when you’re in that  _ ridiculous _ human’s pathetic form!” 

She stabbed her rapier at him but he dodged it easily and swung his leg out in a roundhouse kick that sent her flying across the yard before she slammed into the ground. 

“ _Woo!_ Yeah Pink, put her in the _dirt_!” Amethyst cheered. 

Hessonite glowered at him as she spat some mud out of her mouth and stood up. “You will pay for that with your  _ life _ .” 

If Pink was a nicer person, he would end this immediately but he wasn’t  _ feeling _ nice after that insult she had thrown at Steven. Steven didn’t deserve to be talked to that way, and if Hessonite was fighting to defend Yellow Diamond’s honor, then he’d do the same for his human. 

In a burst of speed Hessonite dashed over to him, her blade slashing down with perfect form. Pink admitted, she was extraordinarily fast. He could see how she would be a formidable, even deadly opponent for anyone else.

Pink caught the sword with one hand and held it in a vice like grip.

She spluttered, “You, you  _ traitor _ .” She tried to wrench her rapier from his fist but Pink was stronger than her and broke the sword into pieces with barely a thought.

Hessonite wasn’t going to give up that easily though and hooked out her fist to punch him. He darted back in time and grabbed the large collar of her ridiculous cape in his hands so he could launch her over his shoulder. 

He slammed her into the dirt, making a large crater spread out under her from the impact. Judging from the horrified expression on her face as he stood over her, she wasn’t used to losing. 

Especially not this quickly. 

She shook on the ground, struggling to get up, “ _ H-how _ did you--  _ who _ are--”

He had no inclination or desire to answer her so he put a shield around her and shrunk it down as he had originally planned. Hessonite desperately beat on the shield with her fists, panicking as the shield closed tighter around her. 

She gave a shrill screech when the shield closed enough around her to successfully poof her, reducing Hessonite to her dormant gem state. 

As soon as Hessonite was safely bubbled, Pink dropped the shield that was around Steven and the others.  
  
Amethyst started cheering and threw a squealing Peridot up into the air in celebration.

Steven ran over to him and pulled Pink to his chest in a full body hug, wrapping his arms around him. 

“You were _ incredible _ .” Steven said in his ear. “That was absolutely  _ amazing _ .” 

Pink’s cheeks flushed and felt his gem warm from Steven’s praise and the proud tone of his voice. 

Pink had done it, he’d been able to help Steven and keep him safe from an enemy who had wanted to hurt him. He’d been able to make a difference and actually  _ do _ something this time. 

He hugged Steven back, relishing in the wonderful feeling of his human’s arms.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me a while to update this time! This chapter was long and I had to reread it a lot to make sure it didn’t have inconsistencies/errors. 
> 
> Thank you again for your comments and kudos! I love reading the theories some of you have come up with for what will happen next :D
> 
> And if you are not an amethyst/peridot shipper, don’t worry. It’s not going to be central to this story or a true subplot, it’s just something that simmers in the background. It’s why I didn’t tag it in the story. 
> 
> In the next chapter:
> 
> As they learn more about each other, and spend more time together, the boys’ bond only grows stronger.
> 
> Someone isn’t happy about it though.


	5. Something Warm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they learn more about each other, and spend more time together, the boys’ bond only grows stronger.
> 
> Someone isn’t happy about it though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the lengthy time it took for me to post the new chapter!
> 
> It’s 54 pages, so I hope you enjoy and find it was worth the wait :D
> 
> If you need a break, a good stopping point is after Steven goes to sleep :)

They were all relieved now that the danger was over.

Pink was still clinging to Steven when Amethyst turned to him, “Geez, Pinkster. Who knew you were such a little powerhouse? That was _so_ awesome.” 

She grinned up at him and held her hand up, “Air five?”

Pink blinked at her but realized what she meant. After some hesitation he held his hand up to match hers so they were parallel, but not touching.

She laughed, putting her hand down after a beat.

“You’re so freaking weird, but you’re cool.”

Pink felt a second spark of happiness that wasn’t his and glanced up to see Steven smiling at him. Pink felt flustered at the way Steven’s gaze focused on him and leaned forward and to press his face into Steven’s shoulder again. He didn’t have a biological heart, but if he did, he suspected it would be racing right now. He was so glad that his human was safe.

“Thanks to _you_.” Steven said to him, hearing Pink’s thoughts. He hugged Pink close, “I still can’t believe you did that.”

Once they had calmed down some more from the adrenaline rush of being in mortal danger, the group decided to check over the wreckage of the ship. 

Parts of the Roaming Eye were still on fire, so Pink created a thick bubble around it that smothered the fire out once it had burned through the available oxygen.  
  
Steven got a hose and started spraying water over the singed grass and the area around the ship just to be safe in case there were any embers that could catch fire. 

Peridot frowned as she noticed the steaming metal of the ship. “Steven, I suggest you stay away from this, the metal is still quite hot.”

“You want me to water it down?” Steven asked, lifting the hose. 

She shook her head, “Negative, the water could damage the electrical components of the ship, it could cause a surge that would destroy the parts I want to save.” She narrowed her eyes. “I wonder... You know, not dissimilar to what you humans do with your own aircrafts and space faring vessels, Homeworld has a logging device on every ship they deploy. I’m hoping the one on this ship is undamaged from the crash.”

“Oh, you mean a flight recorder, like a black box?” Steven replied. “That would be useful. Is it safe for you guys to go in there though?”

Peridot touched the heated metal experimentally, “Yes, I’m a peridot, Amethyst and Pink Agate are both quartzes, meaning all three of us can comfortably withstand temperatures of up to one thousand celsius before we’ll start to become uncomfortable, and it has to be even hotter before we would sustain damage. But the ship is too hot for your human physiology, Steven. It feels to be approximately two hundred degrees celsius, but I don’t know how accurate that is.”

Steven laughed, “I’ll take your word for it. At that temperature I’d be charbroiled.”

Pink didn’t appreciate Steven’s gallows humor and nudged his forehead against Steven’s shoulder who absently reached up to stroke Pink’s hair in response, thinking Pink just wanted attention. 

Amethyst kicked the ship, “So like, the last ship we saw was a hand. This one looked like an eye. Are all homeworld ships modeled after body parts or some junk?”

Peridot climbed on top of the ship to the hatch Hessonite had kicked open. “Actually, yes. Not all of them, but many are. The diamonds each have a ship modeled after body parts. Yellow and Blue are the arms, White Diamond has the head with a torso-”

“ _Ew._ ” Amethyst interjected. 

“...And -it was before I existed- but _apparently_ the late Pink Diamond’s ship was modeled as the legs. Though it’s been missing in action for thousands of years now. It’s assumed that it was destroyed at some point during the war after her...assassination.”

Unless Rose Quartz had done something different in this dimension, Pink had a hunch Pink Diamond’s ship was located somewhere in the Sahara desert of Africa as it had been in his old world. 

Pink joined Peridot and Amethyst in searching the Roaming Eye. Peridot said she found it strange that only Hessonite had been on the ship. Elite gems like her never traveled without bodyguards.

While Peridot searched for the flight recorder, Amethyst and Pink both found five intact ruby gems who must have poofed from the explosion.

Including Hessonite, that meant Homeworld had decided to send six gems over to collect jasper.

“Ah ha!” Peridot crowed triumphantly as she found something in a compartment under the console at the front of the ship. She pulled out a red cube shaped object. “I don’t have the code, but I should be able to crack this thing open and get some information from it.”

“Well they said they were here for Jasper, right?” Amethyst replied. 

“Yes, but it could have other invaluable information as well, such as if they were going to have reinforcements join them if they didn't make contact after a specified amount of time. 

“Oh. LIke, if Hessonite doesn't contact them...another ship could come to see what’s up?”

“...Isn’t that what I just said?” Peridot asked with a confused frown. 

“Yeah, well, kinda. But you said it all nerdy.” Amethyst said with a grin, which made Peridot splutter in irritation. 

The three exited the ship now that they had what they needed and Steven frowned when he saw the gems Pink and Amethyst were holding.

“You found those on the ship? Did they get cracked?” He asked in concern.

“Naw they’re good.” Amethyst replied.

Pink held one out for Steven to see, _They are unharmed. As you know, rubies are tougher than they look._

Steven gave him a funny look. “...Right, yeah.”

Had Pink said something strange? He was about to ask when he was distracted by Peridot who was excitedly babbling about all the tech she could probably scavenge from the wreckage of the ship. 

“Oh, I could use this for so many things!” Peridot said excitedly. “I’ll have to take it apart piece by piece to move it so it’s not way out here but-”

Pink handed Amethyst the two rubies before he stepped over to the ship which by now had cooled significantly. He leaned down to pick the hulking mass up into his arms and hefted it onto his shoulder before turning to look at Peridot expectantly.

She blinked at him in surprise. “O-oh, um, right over there?” She said pointing to the other side of the barn that was empty and away from any trees. 

Pink walked over and she followed after to show him where to place it. 

“ _Daaang_.” Amethyst said to Steven. “Pearl and I would have had to fuse and make Opal to lift that. Pinkster is strong.”

Steven nodded back in amazement as he tightened the spigot to turn the hose off. Of the gems in his family, his mom was the strongest. He’d seen her lift similar sized and weighted things before with the same ease. Pink had lifted the ship as though it was a bag of flour. 

Pink was sweet, and seemed so fragile in certain ways. But after watching him fight Hessonite and now this, it reminded Steven that even though he didn’t act like it, Pink was not only a gem warrior like his family, but also an incredibly strong one. 

He smiled in amusement at the thought that Pink, who had literally _kicked Hessonite into the dirt_ , was the same gem who had shyly asked Steven if they could put a puzzle together. 

Amethyst raised her eyebrow at him. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.” Steven said, shaking his head as he watched Pink turn the ship in the direction Peridot asked for. 

“Uh huh.” She replied, sounding unconvinced. 

When Pink and Peridot walked back, Amethyst realized she was still holding the rubies.

“Oh, I guess we should send these home before they reform.” Amethyst said. “So, do you know how to send these to the temple?” She asked Pink as she bubbled a ruby before tapping on the top of it, teleporting it back to the temple.

Pink lied and shook his head.

“It’s easy,” She said as she held up the last bubbled ruby “You just tap to send it home.” She demonstrated and Pink nodded along. “You should try it with Hessonite since she’s bubbled in yours.”

Pink turned to Hessonite’s gem which was still trapped in the miniature version of his shield. Pink tapped the top of it, imagining sending it home.

Steven was standing next to Peridot while she excitedly rambled to him about her ideas for the scavenged ship parts, but he was startled when Hessonite’s bubbled gem suddenly appeared next to Steven’s shoulder.  
  
“Woah! How did that get here?” Steven exclaimed while Peridot backpedaled away from it, alarmed.  
  
Pink’s mouth fell open in surprise as he realized what he did. 

Amethyst turned to look at Pink incredulously, a grin widening across her face.

“Holy crap dude- Are you _serious_?!”

Steven tried to step away from Hessonite’s bubble only for it to float lazily after him. 

Pink blushed. He’d thought about sending it home but it had appeared next to Steven and oh _stars_. 

Amethyst started laughing as Steven now was trying to walk backwards away from it but the bubble dutifully followed after him. 

“Um, guys?” He said uncertainly, I think Hessonite’s gem is _haunting_ me? I know she didn’t like me but I’ve never seen a bubbled gem do this before.”

Steven glanced over at Amethyst who was now on the ground clutching her sides while she wheezed from laughter and Pink was brightly glowing a shade of magenta while he hid his face in his hands. 

It didn’t take long for Steven to work out what happened. He tried to stifle his giggles out of sensitivity for Pink’s feelings as he walked over, Hessonite’s bubble hovering over his left shoulder.

Steven was only human though and couldn’t help but tease him a _little_. He tousled Pink’s hair and leaned down so they were more eye level. 

“Aww, _Pink_ . You think of me as your _home_ ?”  
  
Pink radiated embarrassment but peaked at him from between his fingers and nodded. 

_Yes. But I didn’t mean to do_ **_that_ ** _._

Steven leaned down to easily pick him up into his arms and Pink immediately buried his face in Steven’s shoulder, trying to hide as he clung to him. 

Steven rubbed his back, “That’s _really_ sweet. Honestly, I’m touched.”

Pink gave a mortified whimpering noise in response as he curled closer around him and glowed a deeper shade of pink.

Steven nudged at Amethyst with his foot as she was now crying from laughter on the ground. “Okay, okay. C’mon Amethyst, you’re gonna have to send Hessonite to the temple for us.”

“Oh man what if we had him tap _all_ the ones in the temple?!” She wheezed, “Would you just walk around with like, _hundreds_ of bubbles all the time?! You wouldn’t even be able to get back into the house! We _have_ to try that when we get back!”

Peridot reached up and tried to pull Hessonite’s bubble out of Steven’s orbit, but it wouldn’t budge past about twelve inches away from him.

“Fascinating.” She said. “Steven, try to walk away while I hold it.”

Steven indulged her, and Peridot reached up, grabbing it again. However, this time she lifted her legs up so she was hanging from the bubble while she held it. 

Still holding Pink, Steven took some steps away and Peridot floated after him while she clutched onto the bubble.   
  
“Wow.” Steven said, biting his lip to keep from laughing.

Amethyst made incoherent screeching noises as she writhed on the ground in hysterics. 

“ _WHAT_ is going on here?!” An angry voice demanded.

The group looked over to see Pearl looking at them in shock while perched on top of Lion along with Rose Quartz and Garnet.

“Oh! Hi, guys!” Steven said over Amethyst’s raucous laughter, putting Pink back down onto the ground. 

Rose got off of Lion along with Garnet and Pearl, she glanced between the four of them. 

“We saw the ship break through the atmosphere.” Rose said with a slight frown. “And we saw it head in this direction. So we came as quickly as we could...but it appears you handled it.”

Amethyst had finally composed herself enough to stand up now. “Pffft. _Handled_ it, Steven and I didn’t even do anything.” She thumbed over at Pink, “ _Pink_ ster over there is the one who took the ship down and poofed all the gems for us. There were like six of them.”

Rose raised her eyebrows as she looked at Pink, who didn’t like being under her scrutiny. “...He did?”

“Yeah, mom.” Steven said, putting an arm around Pink’s shoulders. “We would have been in a lot of trouble without him, he was amazing.”

“Glad you’re alright.” Garnet said as she appraised the four of them. 

Pearl noticed the bubbled gem floating over Steven’s shoulder. “Wait, is that a _Hessonite_?!”

“...Yeah? She only said her own name like, fifty times.” Amethyst said as she reached over to tap on Hessonite’s bubble, sending it back to the temple. 

Peridot scoffed, “Tell me about it.”

“Wait. Where are the others?” Steven asked, noticing Bismuth and Spinel missing. “Hessonite didn’t attack the temple before she came here, did she?”

Garnet adjusted her glasses. “No, don’t worry Steven. We had Bismuth and Spinel stay back at Beach City just to be safe in case the ship went back...but I’ll let them know to return to the temple so we can debrief there.” She said as she took out her cell phone to text them. 

Rose Quartz looked over at the wrecked ship uncertainty. “Peridot, I think you should come back to the temple with us. I don’t like you being out here all by yourself if Homeworld is going to be sending ships.” 

Peridot shook her head, “But, my work! All the parts for it are here!”

Steven rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, but mom has a point. What if we hadn’t come today? You would have had to deal with Hessonite and those rubies by _yourself_.”

Peridot got a worried expression that told him she hadn’t thought of that. 

“Look, how about you stay with us for now and we’ll see if anything else happens?” Rose said. “You can always come back later.” She glanced over at Pink, “After all, we’re stronger together than we are apart.”  
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Later, back at the temple, the gems had a discussion in the living room of what they should do.

Bismuth was horrified to learn that Hessonite had invaded earth. “Did she have a yellow triangle mark over her eye? And an orange rectangular gem on her chest?!” 

Steven nodded, “Yeah, and her hair looked like popcorn.”

Bismuth ran a hand through her rainbow colored dreads, “That’s her alright. That’s the Hessonite who led Yellow Diamond’s armada and took so many of our own good soldiers down.”

Peridot looked around them uncomfortably. “She said the reason she was here was to find and bring back Jasper. I don’t suppose you know where she is, do you?”

There was a thick silence between the gems before Rose spoke up. 

“No. A few months back, when Jasper...and you...tried to take us back to Homeworld. We lost her when the ship exploded.” She sighed. “It’s been something of a ticking bomb, I suppose. I keep expecting her to show up but she hasn’t yet.”

Garnet gave a frustrated noise. “I can’t find her either. Every time I try, it’s unfocused. I think she’s figured out how my future vision works and she keeps changing her mind to try to throw me off. But, we know she’s alive somewhere. It’s just a matter of waiting.”

Steven hummed. “What about the moon base?” He asked. “I wasn’t able to go there, because space and all, but you guys said there was some sort of viewing orb? Couldn’t we use that to search for Jasper?

“That’s...not a bad idea.” Rose said. “We can’t use the terminal anymore, since a certain _someone_ smashed it.” She said, raising an eyebrow at Garnet.  
  
Garnet had the decency to look sheepish. “Sorry, I was mad.”

Bismuth grinned. “Yeah, your ruby definitely came out that time.”

Peridot cleared her throat, fidgeting with her fingers, “And that was my fault...sorry. Because of what I said about humans not being worth saving.” She glanced anxiously over at Steven and quickly added, “I don’t feel that way anymore, though!”

Steven smiled and squeezed her shoulder, “It’s okay, Peridot. It’s in the past.”

“But,” Rose continued, “The orb doesn’t need the terminal to work, and it’s all we can do since she’s thwarted Garnet’s future vision.”

Bismuth frowned. “Well, we should interrogate Hessonite first, see what she knows.” She glanced at Rose, “Homeworld doesn’t know you’re alive, Rose. If they did, there wouldn’t be a planet here right now. We have to make sure they don’t find out.”

Peridot held up the cube shaped flight recorder she found from the ship, “I can try to crack this thing and see the mission log, but it would be easier if you got the passcode from Hessonite.”

Pearl nodded, a determined look in her eyes. “Oh, don’t worry about that. We’ll get it from her.”

Bismuth, Pearl, Garnet, and Rose went through the temple door, likely to talk about the best way to go about interrogating Hessonite.

Amethyst offered to let Peridot stay in her room while she was at the temple. “It’s got a bunch of cool junk in it that you can build stuff with. Wanna see?”

Peridot’s eyes lit up in excitement and followed her through to her room, disappearing through the door with her.

Pink was about to relax now that the other gems were finally gone, but he heard a soft squeaking noise and twitched when he noticed Spinel was still in the living room, smiling with her eyes fixated on him. 

“Hi, Pink.” She said with a cheerful wave.

”Oh, hey Spinel.” Steven said, breaking the silence when Pink didn't acknowledge her.

To Pink’s indignation she ignored Steven completely in favor of stepping towards Pink, 

“That’s amazing that you took that ship down!” She said with a saccharine smile.

Pink clung to Steven’s arm and nodded at her only out of politeness. 

“How’dja do it?” She asked as she stepped closer, making him tense up.

Steven answered when Pink remained silent. “He made a shield, and when the ship blasted at it, it ricocheted back on it.”

“Wow, a shield? What does it look like?” Spinel asked.  
  
Pink pushed his face into Steven’s shoulder, trying to hide from her. 

“If you go into the chamber where mom and the others are, you can see the small version of it that he used on Hessonite.” Steven replied.

Spinel’s voice turned pouty, “Steven, I’m asking _Pink_.”

Pink prickled at her rudeness towards him but Steven was unbothered and replied,  
  
“I know, Spins. But he doesn’t _like_ to talk. You need to stick with yes or no questions like Amethyst does or he might not respond to you.”

She huffed. “Okay, fine. Pink, wanna play a game with me?”

Pink shook his head. 

_No._ he thought even though she couldn’t hear him.

“Why not?!” Spinel asked in frustration. 

Steven patiently explained, “We _did_ just deal with a gem invading earth, and even though it turned out okay, it was still stressful. I don’t think he’s in the mood for a game. To be honest, I’m not either.”

“But I-”

“Not today, Spinel.” Steven said with a gentle firmness in his voice that sounded so much like Rose Quartz’s. 

Spinel crossed her arms and pouted. “Okay… _fine_. I’ll go see his shield in Garnet’s room.”

She turned away and walked through the temple door, obviously miffed at Pink spurning her attention again. 

Pink relaxed once she was gone, leaving him and Steven finally alone. He warmed when he felt Steven’s hand rub the back of his shoulders.  
  
“Well,” Steven said. “I don’t know about you, but I could use some food. I’m going to make _paella_ tonight which is a big meal so how about a snack instead of a normal lunch?”

Pink nodded and Steven walked into the kitchen to take some fruit out from the fridge.

He grabbed a bowl and with Pink’s help, sliced up the fruit for them to share. “Wanna eat this in my room?” He asked, dropping two forks into the bowl. 

_Yes._ Pink told him, relieved that they were going to be alone together after being around the other gems.

They went up to Steven’s room and climbed onto his bed. Pink settled down next to him while Steven played some music from his laptop.

Steven put the bowl between them to share, “Go ahead, have as much as you want,” he encouraged. 

They were alone and away from any possible judgmental stares from the gems, so Pink gave into temptation and picked up a strawberry from the bowl, holding it out to his human.

Steven laughed, setting the laptop to the side. “You wanna feed me?”

_Please? Just for a little bit?_

Pink didn’t know why he enjoyed it. Maybe because it was a comfort for him that Steven was alive and Pink was helping to keep it that way. Maybe it was a bonding thing. Or maybe Pink was just weird. Either way, he enjoyed doing it. 

Steven gave a smile, “If you really want to then okay, sure.”

Pink nodded and held out the strawberry. Steven took a bite of it, being careful not to scrape Pink’s fingers with his teeth.

Pink felt a wave of contentment as he watched Steven chew and swallow it. Steven gave a small laugh and Pink could feel his slight embarrassment, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

“You’re too cute. Here, your turn.” Steven said, holding up a piece of mango to him.

Pink wouldn’t have asked Steven to feed him, but he was certainly happy at the prospect of it. 

He bit down, but became alarmed when he felt the sharp point of his small fang accidentally sink into Steven’s thumb. Steven didn’t react but Pink tasted the distinct, copper tang of blood and jerked his head away.

“Sorry!” Pink exclaimed frantically. He took Steven’s hand and licked the tiny puncture, healing it instantly.

“Pink, it’s fine.” Steven reassured. “It didn’t even hurt, honest.” 

He lifted the piece of mango back up to Pink’s mouth, but Pink shook his head, 

_No, I might bite you again._

“You _barely_ even nicked me, I’m okay.” Steven insisted.

Pink was still hesitant so Steven leaned forward, bumping their foreheads together. 

“C’mon, Pink. I accidentally bite _myself_ on the tongue all the time when I’m eating and _that_ ’s actually painful.” 

Pink fretted, “But what if-”

Steven gave Pink a teasing smile, “Your little rabbit bites don’t hurt and you don’t scare me.” He held up the fruit again, “Now let me feed you this dang mango. It’s organic.”

Pink finally smiled, “Okay.” 

He opened his mouth and this time was extra careful not to bite Steven, he enjoyed the sweetness that burst in his mouth, and the soft texture of the fruit. 

“There, see?” Steven said, his eyes crinkling up as he grinned. 

He reached over and grabbed his laptop, pausing the music. “Wanna watch some videos?”

Pink nodded, curious to see what Steven liked. He settled in next to Steven, feeding him a piece of apple while he brought up the video.

They watched a few different ones while they took turns giving each other cubes of fruit. They were mostly silly animal videos which didn’t surprise Pink. Steven also chose some cooking videos, saying he wanted to try them for future dinners.

Pink was surprised when Steven brought up a video of Lars, who was baking.

“He’s a friend of mine in Beach City,” Steven said in explanation when he must have felt Pink’s interest. “We work together at my dad’s music shop. But his hobby is baking and he makes these really cute cakes and pastries. I think he should open a bakery or something one of these days.”

It was a little strange to watch Lars titter around the kitchen in the video, looking older than his counterpart in Pink’s old world. This one looked like he was in his early twenties though, and still had the same tan skin and auburn hair he’d had before the accident on Homeworld where he’d died. In Pink’s world, Lars had been stuck as a teenager, pink toned and cursed with eternal youth after Steven’s tears had resurrected him. 

Pink clenched his eyes. He had tried to bring his other half back to life when Spinel had killed him. But it had been impossible. At the time, Pink’s powers had been stunted due to the rejuvenator and by the time he had gotten his healing powers back, it was far too late to bring his human half back to life, as he’d already been decomposing in his grave by then. 

He shuddered and clung to Steven, reassuring himself that he was alive and safe right here next to him.

“Pink?” Steven asked, worry radiating from him. “You okay? You suddenly feel all cold.”

Pink nodded, he was okay, Steven was safe. And that was all that mattered.

A horrid thought crossed Pink’s mind. Steven might not have been at the barn in the first place if it wasn’t for the fact that they’d been there to get decorations for the lighthouse. But he and Amethyst had wanted to invite Peridot to movie night, anyway. What if even without Pink in this reality, they had gone? There was no way they would have been able to fend off Hessonite’s warship before Rose Quartz saved them in time. Would Steven have been killed in his world too? Pink arrived only three days ago. What if he’d waited three days to jump realities only to find Steven already dead in this world as well? 

“Pink? Bud, you’re worrying me a little.”

Steven set the laptop aside and Pink took the opportunity to climb into his lap, insistent as a cat, pushing his face into Steven’s neck. Steven felt a strange wave of despair from Pink and instinctively wrapped his arms around the gem, holding Pink close against him. 

_I just want to stay like this for a minute._ Pink replied as a small shiver wracked his body. 

Steven was concerned, unsure why Pink felt so cold and desperately anxious seemingly out of nowhere. What had been the trigger for this?

The television suddenly flickered on across the room and Steven saw something strange. It was so quick, he almost thought he’d imagined it.

But Steven was pretty sure the static image had been of his own face, pale and smeared with blood. 

Just as quickly as it had happened, the television went dark again as it turned off.

Was Pink feeling like this because he was scared of what could have happened with Hessonite? 

He squeezed Pink close, petting his hair as he let Pink cling to him. “It’s okay. We can stay like this as long as you want.”

Pink curled closer into him, giving a soft sound but didn’t reply otherwise, clearly withdrawing deep into himself. 

He remembered how he'd first met Pink. The gem had been huddled under the bed covers and practically vibrating from anxiety once he’d woken up. But he’d been peacefully sleeping before that.

After a moment of deliberation, Steven kept one arm wrapped around Pink but grabbed the duvet with his other hand and pulled it over the two of them. Pink gave a confused noise but Steven gently shushed him as he maneuvered them so they were completely covered by the comforter which was fairly thick and blocked out the light of the room. 

“Better?” Steven asked. 

Pink squeezed Steven tightly in response, nodding mutely, nuzzling into Steven’s shoulder as he hid. But he slowly started to warm up, thawing from the chill that had possessed his body like a frozen pall.

Steven sighed, relieved he had been able to help a little. 

There was still so much Steven still didn’t know about this gem. And he didn’t know what to do other than to try to comfort him when he could.

He hoped it was enough. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Later, once Pink had lifted out of his dark fugue, Steven took Pink with him to the grocery store. Pink appreciated the distraction, and it was something new that he hadn’t done with his human yet. 

Pink enjoyed listening to Steven about how he carefully selected a red bell pepper, explaining to Pink that the best ones should be firm and shiny. 

Walking around and shopping together was fun, and Pink was happy to jump up and grab a bottle of olive oil when it was on the tallest shelf and just out of Steven’s reach. 

That earned Steven ruffling his hair, “Thanks bud, It seems kinda silly to use those cool powers of yours to help me get my favorite brand of olive oil, but it beats me trying to climb the shelf and getting scolded by the manager again.”

They got a few looks from people at the grocery store, but they were more curious than weirded out. This was Beach City after all, and Pink supposed the citizens here were used to the gems. The cashier didn’t even blink as she cheerfully asked Steven to enter his phone number for the grocery store’s rewards program. 

Of course she also worked in a customer service retail job so a pink boy with horns was probably not even close to the strangest thing she’s ever seen. 

Dinner was also a blessedly uneventful affair. 

Steven made the _paella_ he had promised to make for Amethyst, which was fragrant with spices and the shrimp and chicken he cooked into it.

Pink didn’t know how to cook, but was willing to chop whatever ingredients Steven needed.

“Thanks, Pink.” Steven said at one point. “You’re such a great helper. It makes it easier to have someone prep ingredients with me.”

Pink smiled, glad that he was able to do _something_ , even if it was just chopping onions. 

The other gems didn’t come out for dinner but Amethyst and Peridot did. The other gems must have still been trying to interrogate Hessonite, who knows how that was going. 

Amethyst was excited to eat it and practically shoveled the rice dish into her mouth. 

Peridot stared at her in confusion. “But...you're a _gem_! Why are you eating food?”

“Um, because it _tastes_ amazing!” Amethyst replied, eating one of the shrimp, tail and all.

Peridot politely declined, which made sense as she couldn’t shapeshift anyway. Instead she practiced levitating a fork, trying to make it go incrementally higher each time. 

After they were done Pink helped Steven load the dishwasher. “I’m gonna take a shower after this, but feel free to stay and hang out in my room unless you’d rather to go back to the lighthouse.”

 _...It’s evening. Shouldn’t I go to the lighthouse?_ Pink asked. He would love to stay with Steven but didn’t want him to get in trouble with Rose Quartz.

Steven gave him a sly half smile that made something in Pink’s gem quicken. 

“My family’s going to try to be getting any information they can from those rubies and Hessonite, and after that they’re probably gonna try to go to the moon base to find Jasper.” His dark eyes had a mischievous gleam in them, “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

 _You said you don’t like keeping secrets from your family_. Pink teased.

“No, I said that I don’t like _lying_ to them. This isn’t lying, just disobeying. If they find out I’ll apologize.” He winked, “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.”

Pink was starting to see that this Steven, for all his gentle temperament, still had a bit of a rebel streak in him. Pink liked that side of him too, and he wasn’t going to refuse a chance to stay with him. 

After the dishwasher was running, Pink followed Steven up to his room. 

In this world, Greg apparently lived in the house instead of his van, which meant there was an extra bedroom that was downstairs across the hall from the bathroom. Steven’s room was on the second level of the house had its own bathroom attached to it. 

Steven went in there with a change of pajamas, leaving Pink to hang out in the bedroom by himself. 

It felt a little like déjà vu , to be alone in Steven's room again. But this time he was here by invitation. He thought about resuming the video game he’d been playing earlier, but couldn’t resist crawling into Steven’s bed instead. 

He pulled the covers completely over himself and relaxed, it was the next best thing to being with Steven. And after burrowing in his other half’s bed all those years it was nearly instinctual to do it. He grabbed one of the several pillows and tugged it underneath the covers with him as he settled down.

Pink knew he was being ridiculous, but he hoped Steven didn’t like long showers because he already missed him. 

In the shower, Steven sighed as he felt the hot water wash over him. The day had started out pretty rocky, but had ended peacefully enough. He admitted he felt a bit drained, probably from the adrenaline rush from earlier and the stress of dealing with an unknown Homeworld gem. 

He was worried about the whole situation with Hessonite. She’d been thwarted, and it was peaceful for now. But what about later? 

When she didn’t return successfully back to homeworld with Jasper like she was supposed to, would the Diamonds just send another ship to try again? Peridot had insinuated that could be the case and he was dreading that. 

He sighed, pressing his forehead against the tiled shower wall. There was still so much that was uncertain, even with Garnet’s future vision. He supposed worrying won't help anything though. The most they could do is keep taking it day by day and being prepared for anything.

His thoughts drifted back to Pink. Steven realized this was one of the few times he’d been completely alone since they’d first met. Even though he enjoyed being around his family and other people, Steven valued quality time by himself too. That’s why he’d go up the lighthouse or maybe go down to the beach, alone. After a day like this, Steven would normally relish the thought of being by himself to process and reflect or even just lose himself in one of his hobbies like playing his guitar. 

It was interesting that he didn’t feel that need, though. Right now all he wanted was to finish his shower, change into his clean pajamas, and go to bed with Pink cuddled next to him. 

He bonked his head against the wall again. _Why_ did that thought come so easily to him?! The link between them was so familiar despite how new it was. Steven would be much more concerned about the bond between them if it didn’t feel so natural.

He sighed and finished rinsing off, making sure he didn’t have any conditioner still in the ringlets of his hair. 

Moments later, Steven came out of the bathroom wearing his pajamas, rubbing a towel over his head to finish drying his hair. He was confused when he didn’t see Pink at first but laughed to himself when he saw a distinctive lump on his bed, under the fluffy duvet.

“Wow. Where did Pink Agate go?” Steven asked out loud. “So strange, he could be hiding _anywhere_.”

He saw the lump shift on the bed, and felt a spark of amusement that wasn’t his. 

“Gosh, so weird.” Steven crawled up onto the bed and gently flopped forwards directly onto the lump, hearing a soft squeak underneath him.

“Hmmm. Truly, a mystery for the ages. I guess I’ll never know.” He said with mock dismay. 

_Steven Steven Steven_

Steven laughed and pulled back the covers to reveal Pink smiling at him.

Steven grinned, “There you are.” 

Pink reached up and pulled Steven to him, making a happy noise when Steven willingly lied down with him. 

_Steven, my Steven._

He reached up to stroke Pink’s face. “I’m here.” He smiled, “You sure like to burrow into the bed a lot, don’t you? Is it because you like the dark or do you just like being covered up?”

Pink gave a sheepish look, _I know, it’s weird._

“No, not at all.” Steven reassured. “It’s a comfort thing, right?”

_I like to be covered yes, but also it’s because it smells like you._

An embarrassed expression crossed Steven’s face, “Please tell me it smells like me in a _good_ way, I _just_ washed those sheets right before you showed up a few days ago but-”

 _In a good way, I promise._ Pink reassured, _It’s relaxing._

Steven smiled softly. “You like me that much?”

Pink nodded with no hesitation and then Steven had an idea, “One sec, wait right here. I’m gonna grab something.”

Pink waited on the bed as requested while Steven got up and walked over to his closet and opened the door. 

“Let’s see, I know it’s in here. I _just_ wore it last week.” Steven pushed some hangers around and from what Pink could see, he had a rather extensive collection of hoodies and jackets. To his amusement, Steven had organized them by rainbow order. 

“Ah, here it is!” Steven said triumphantly. “I put it with the other pink ones.”

He walked back over to the bed and handed Pink a fig colored hoodie that had a magenta pink hood and sleeves along with a stylized rose embroidered on the back of it. It smelled strongly of his human and for a moment Pink just held it, feeling it center him. 

“And that’s the exact reaction I was hoping for.” Steven said with a pleased smile. “You want to wear it?”

Pink had never put on physical clothes before, as he was a gem and it was unnecessary. But if they were _Steven’s_ clothes, he could see the appeal. 

Pink nodded and Steven gently tugged the hoodie out of Pink’s hands before he bunched it up around the hole of the neck. 

“Okay, I’m gonna help you put this on, watch out for your horns.”

He let Steven guide him so that his horns didn’t snag and felt the soft material settle against his form. Pink pulled up the front of it to sniff the collar of it, and felt it relax him. Steven didn’t wear heavy colognes or body sprays so all Pink could smell was his human’s natural scent that made him think of warmth and home. 

Pink quietly made the shirt he was wearing under the hoodie disappear so all he could feel was the soft cotton fabric of Steven’s hoodie on his form. 

Steven laughed, “Aw, you’re hair’s all fluffed up.” He said with a laugh as he tried to push it back to normal. “You look like a pink dandelion.”

Pink smiled and leaned into him, making Steven laugh as Pink’s tiny horns tickled the underside of his chin. 

Steven smiled. “Does that feel nice? That’s probably my largest one, it’s even big on _me_. And here, it has these cool thumby things.” He pushed Pink’s thumbs through the slits on the wrist so the sleeves went down to his knuckles.

_Thank you, it’s wonderful, I love it_

“I’m glad you like it, feel free to wear any of my other ones too. I have way too many.” 

Pink nodded and settled down against him. 

Steven reached over to the nightstand to turn off his lamp, but the room wasn’t completely dark due the gentle pink glow from Pink’s eyes and horns. 

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to your horns and eyes glowing like little pink fireflies.”

 _Sorry, I don’t know how to turn them off._ Pink replied, self-consciously reaching up to cover a horn. _They just do that._

“Oh, no it’s fine.” Steven said as he pulled the bed covers back to slid in next to him. “I never liked sleeping in the full dark anyway, that’s why I have these,” He said, gesturing to the string of star shaped fairy lights across the shelf above his bed. 

“Besides,” He smiled and reached up to trace the quartz shaped horns that sprouted from Pink’s forehead. “I think they’re pretty.”

Pink didn’t bother trying to resist anymore and wrapped his arms around Steven’s middle as he moved close to him.

Pink wanted to just cling to him and not let go. It didn’t escape his knowledge that Steven could have been hurt today, that something could have happened to him. 

“Aw, Pink.” Steven said. “I’m _fine_ , you were amazing and you saved us.”

Pink flushed at his praise and buried his face in Steven’s neck. 

Steven turned over so they were facing each other. “Are _you_ okay though?”

Pink nodded. Steven was safe, nothing else mattered.

“That’s not true, _You_ matter to me.” Steven replied. “Remember, we talked about that?”

Pink nodded, _Yes_.

Steven didn’t like how Pink seemed to think of himself as expendable or unnecessary. Steven hugged Pink, that strange feeling coming over him the more he thought about it.

 _“Mine.”_ He heard his heart say as he held Pink close. The gem fit in his arms like he was meant to be there, pressed up close to his heart where he belonged. 

He felt it when Pink became aware of his feelings, breathing in sharply as he felt the weight of Steven’s possessive emotions press around him. 

“Steven?” Pink asked out loud in the quiet of the room. 

At once, Steven pushed those feelings away, worried he was going to make Pink uncomfortable. He honestly didn’t know where those thoughts came from. 

He sighed and threaded his fingers through Pink’s hair. “Okay, bud. Let’s sleep. I have work later in the morning, we can’t stay up late.” He seemed to realize something. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry. I forgot you don’t need to sleep! You can use my laptop or play video games. I also have some books-”

Pink shook his head and curled his arms around Steven’s waist as he settled down next to him, just happy to spend time with him like this.

Steven smiled softly, “I like this too.” He sighed. “I didn’t know how nice it could be.”

Pink reached up to play with one of Steven’s earrings, spinning the gold star around.

“How nice _what_ could be?”

Steven hummed. “Not feeling alone anymore, I guess. I never realized I felt that way. And then I met you, and I felt happier, but I didn’t understand why.” 

Pink felt himself warm at that. “You make me feel that way, too.”

Only, Pink had known the cold ache of loneliness and recognized it for what it was. But it was something he’d assumed he’d have to endure for the rest of his existence. He never dreamed he would be here like this, with Steven, like he was supposed to be. 

Steven carded his fingers though the curls of Pink’s hair until he eventually drifted off into sleep, his hand going slack and laying against his shoulder. 

Pink had enjoyed sleeping next to Steven last night, but right now he wanted to stay awake. He listened to the sound of Steven’s deep breathing and rested his head on his chest so he could hear Steven’s heart beat. Steven was alive, and he was safe. 

He squeaked when Steven mumbled something incoherent in his sleep and suddenly wrapped Pink up in his arms, turning over and taking Pink with him. He’d thought Steven had woken up but no, the human was still fully unconscious. 

Pink didn’t mind the change in position, but Steven was close to the edge of the bed and Pink was worried he’d fall off of it if he moved again. Pink moved back more towards the center, and pulled Steven with him.

Steven didn’t wake up outside of making a grumbling noise and pulled Pink closer. 

“Mmhh, my Cookie Cat.” Steven murmured in his sleep. 

Pink bit his lip, struggling not to laugh. He whispered, seeing if Steven would answer in his sleep. “A pet for your tummy?” 

“Mmmyeah, super yummy.” Steven mumbled back sleepily. 

Pink pressed his face into Steven’s chest to stifle his giggling. Maybe next time Steven had a nightmare, Pink could try to put the silly theme song into his dreams. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

“...Steven.”

He blinked awake at his name to see Bismuth standing next to his bed with her arms crossed.

“Bismuth?”

She looked like she was struggling not to smile. “You had a night time visitor?”

Steven’s sleep fuzzy mind didn’t understand what she was talking about, until he felt something hard bump his chin and he realized Pink was cuddled up to him, with his face pressed into Steven’s neck and clinging to him like a koala. 

“Um, yes.” Steven replied sheepishly.

The corner of Bismuth’s mouth quirked. “I just thought I’d check how you were doing after Hessonite. I was surprised to see him here. You _don’t_ though so I assume _you_ allowed him in.”

“Also, yes.” He admitted. 

“I admit, I’m disappointed.” She said airily.

Steven winced. “For breaking mom’s rule?”

“No.” She said as she turned back to walk out of his bedroom, “Because I lost the bet with Amethyst.” 

She left and closed the door behind her. 

...Wow. 

Amethyst and Bismuth were pulling _bets_ on him? About _what_? He’d be more put out but it was hard for him to get all up in arms about it though when his were currently full with a warm and snuggly pink gem. 

Speaking of which, Pink huffed against his skin as he moved his leg over Steven’s hip.

“You need to get a lock for your door.” He groused. 

Steven laughed lightly and sat up so he could get out of bed but Pink stubbornly clung to him. 

“Pink, c’mon I should get up.” Steven said coaxingly as he rubbed Pink’s arm. 

“Five more minutes.” He grumbled back, pulling Steven back to the middle of the bed.

“The last time you said that it turned into _twenty_ minutes.” Steven replied in amusement, gently trying to dislodge Pink’s arms from his waist. 

It was no use though, Pink was an unusually strong gem he could probably bench press the entire temple if he wanted to. 

“Please?” Pink said, looking up at him with soft, pleading eyes.

Oh no, _puppy eyes_ . His secret weakness. Steven tried to look away but it was too late.  
  
The diamond pupils of Pink’s eyes seemed to dilate and Steven felt a tug on his heartstrings as they basically wrapped and tangled around Pink’s little finger. 

He bit his lip, “ _Five_ more minutes but then I _have_ to get up, okay? I have work in like forty-five minutes.”

Pink nodded, already pushing Steven back down onto the bed. Pink was so obviously thrilled, Steven was convinced he could almost hear him purring.

Steven reached up to pet through his curls and Pink gave a soft little happy noise that made him _melt._

“You don’t play fair at _all_.” Steven replied in mock grumpiness. 

“Sorry.” Pink replied with absolutely no remorse.

Steven was going to retort, but then he must have fallen back asleep.

 _Thirty_ minutes later, Steven woke up to the sound of the alarm on his phone as it cheerfully reminded him he had work in fifteen minutes. 

Once he realized he’d unintentionally slept in, he reached up to flick one of Pink’s horns. 

“You are a _menace_ .” He accused. “An adorable, _manipulative_ menace. It was only supposed to be _five more minutes.”_

Pink raised his head and blinked innocently. “I don’t have a watch though, I assumed _you_ were keeping track.”

“Uh huh, so _that’s_ how you wanna play it?” Steven grabbed a pillow and lightly boffed it over Pink’s head. “You’re _so_ lucky dad’s shop is a five minute drive from the house. I have never been late to work a day in my life.”

Pink grinned, “ _Five_ minute drive? So that means we can stay in for a little longer right?”

Steven thumped the pillow over his head again.

Pink didn’t even attempt to block it, he totally deserved it. 

Steven had showered last night so all he really had to do was quickly put on a clean change of clothes. Luckily he didn’t have to wear a uniform or anything, just his work lanyard that had the store logo and his name tag on it. 

Steven grabbed his messenger bag off the hook from the wall by his bedroom door.  
  
“Alright, I’ll see you later okay?” Steven said, with a smile. 

Pink had been sitting on the bed, watching Steven fumble around the room in amusement but now stood up off the bed. “What do you mean?”

Steven blinked at him. “I have to go to work, at my dad’s music store. Remember?”

Pink felt a small fissure of panic and reached out to tug the edge of Steven’s shirt. 

“I- can’t I go with you?”

Steven immediately reassured him, “Oh! Of _course_ you can! I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to leave you or- It’s just- It can be _boring_ at the music store sometimes. I thought you’d have a better time here.”

Pink relaxed now that he realized Steven wasn’t trying to force him to stay behind. 

_I don’t care about that, I want to be with you._

“I know.” He said, ruffling Pink’s hair. “I know you just like it when we spend time together, I feel the same. It can get slow though and I’m going to be doing stuff like stocking and ordering stuff for customers, why don’t you grab the game you were playing with yesterday so you have something to do?”

Pink picked up the console from its charger and put it in the carrying case Steven handed him so it wouldn’t get scratched inside the messenger bag. 

“Is there anything else you want to bring?” Steven asked.

Pink shook his head, he couldn’t think of anything else. The game was fun and if he got tired of it he’d just watch Steven. 

“Oh, heads up. You’ll meet two of my coworkers today. Lars has his shift right now so we’ll work with him for a bit and then we’ll be on our own before Chives comes over later. You remember Lars from that baking video we watched yesterday, right?”

Pink nodded, he knew who Lars was of course but not the other name. He tilted his head, “Chives?”

“Yeah, She’s Sour Cream’s cousin. Oh wait, you don’t know who he is either, hang on.” 

Pink did in fact know who Sour Cream was, but didn’t bother telling Steven that.  
  
Steven pulled his phone out and brought up a picture of Sadie Killers and the Suspects.

“See the guy with the cool spiky platinum blond hair? That’s Sour Cream. Oh, and his little brother is Onion, the kid who works at the Big Donut.” 

He scrolled through his phone, “And Chives is, here we go. We’ve taken a selfie together before.” Steven showed Pink a picture. 

Pink observed that Steven looked adorable, as he gave a cheerful smile to the camera while the girl he assumed was Chives appeared shy with a nervous flush on her face. She looked a lot like how Vidalia did when she was younger, though her light brown hair was cut into a modern chin length bob and her style was more hipster than the rocker fashion Vidalia had preferred at that age. 

The resemblance was so uncanny, Pink asked, “Vidalia isn’t her mom?”

Steven got a slightly awkward expression. “Beach City is a small town, and it’s hard not to hear stuff from the rumor mill. I guess Chives wasn’t getting along well with her parents so she’s staying with Sour Cream’s family for a while. My dad offered her a job at the music store to help keep her busy while she’s here.” 

Steven slid the phone back into his pocket. “She seems happy, so I’m glad it’s worked out.” 

Pink nodded. He’d never heard of Chives in his old world, but different reality, different paths he supposed. He doubted she’d make much of a difference anyway. 

The gems weren’t there when they went downstairs except for Amethyst who was lounging on the couch while Peridot sat next to her, fiddling with the red cube.

“Hey guys, hold down the fort for us while we’re at the shop, okay? See you later.” Steven said.

“Wait, you're going with him to the music shop?” Amethyst asked Pink with a raised eyebrow.

Pink gave her an incredulous look. Why _wouldn’t_ he?

She read the expression on his face and threw her hands up, “Right, of course. Stars forbid he go anywhere without his new pink shadow.”

Pink wasn’t even offended. Because, yes exactly. Stars forbid Steven go off somewhere without him. 

“Be nice, Ames.” Steven said before he looked over at Peridot. “Any luck with that cube?”

Peridot huffed. “Negative. But I’m not giving up, I’m a master technician.”

“And the others didn’t get anything out of Hessonite, I don’t think.” Amethyst said with huff. “I went to check how it was going and apparently Hessonite said something that really pissed Rose off so she got poofed again.” She kicked a soda can off the coffee table in irritation. “Pearl wouldn’t tell me _what_ though.”

Steven recognized that tone. “Did you guys fight?”

“No.” Amethyst replied in a petulant tone. 

So that was a ‘yes’, then. Pearl and Amethyst’s personalities could clash at times and it wasn’t unusual for them to bicker. 

“Are they out trying to find Jasper right now?” He asked, changing the subject.

Amethyst nodded. “They think they saw her so they all left. I told them Peridot and I would hold down the fort over here and make sure you didn’t get into any…” She waggled her eyebrows, “trouble you can’t _handle_.”

Steven rolled his eyes. “Okay, great. Peridot, if you wanna build stuff, do it outside on the beach and not near the house, please.”

Peridot gave a non committal grunt in reply that probably should have worried him. But whatever, if the house exploded they could just rebuild it. Bismuth had been talking about wanting to do some renovations anyway.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Steven pulled up to the store and parked around the back side of the lot.

Pink thought the music shop was cute, with a large neon sign that said “Out of This Universe Records and Music”. It was obvious Greg was still fond of the space aesthetic when he’d named it. 

Steven took him through the back entrance that cut through the employee’s lounge to the store.

Most of the floor space was taken up by rows of displays for records. But on the back wall there were different types of acoustic and electric guitars on stands along with ukuleles. The side wall had other supplies like replacement strings along with amplifiers. Every available empty wall space was decorated with vintage posters of bands singers from the eighties and even earlier. The shop had the same smell as an old, beloved book. 

Lars looked up from his phone when they walked in, “Oh, hey Steven.”

“Hey, anything crazy happen so far?”

“Oh yeah, you missed the insane morning rush that we totally always have.” Lars snorted derisively before pretending to check his wrist for the time and said in a teasing tone, “But you’re barely squeaking in on time, wow. You’re usually ten minutes early. I _almost_ called Mayor Nanafua to send a search party out for you.”

Steven huffed. “I wouldn’t have gotten here earlier but I got sidetracked.”  
  
“Sidetracked?” He glanced over Steven’s shoulder, noticing Pink hovering just behind him. “Um, Steven? You got a little friend?”

Steven put his arm around Pink so he was next to him, “This is Pink Agate, he joined our family a few days ago. We’ve kinda adopted him as a new Crystal Gem.”

Pink didn’t know what to do so he gave a short wave.

“Cool. Um, nice to meet you then.” Lars raised his eyebrow “...Why does he look like you? Amethyst does that sometimes, is this a bit or something?”

“Um, no. He just likes to do that.” Steven said by way of explanation. 

“Oh, okay.” Lars replied, willing to let it go. That was the nice thing about Lars, he could be blunt (occasionally to the point of being abrasive), but he was pretty good at picking up on cues. 

Honestly, Steven didn’t know why either. He probably should ask Pink that one of these days, but he was worried about making him feel uncomfortable. It didn’t bother Steven anyway. He figured Pink would show his true form when he was ready. 

Steven pulled out the video game for Pink and handed it to him before he stowed his messenger bag in a red plastic milk crate under the counter.

“Oh! Lars, I saw that new baking video you uploaded on your channel last night. That purple roll cake looked amazing, you’re getting really good.” Steven said, changing the subject.

Lars' face colored, embarrassed but pleased. “Thanks. It took forever to get the stupid dough right though. I had _so_ many failures.”

“You should make it for Sadie when she visits next month, I bet you’re excited to see her.” Steven said he put his work lanyard around his neck. “You guys haven’t seen each other in weeks!”

He expected Lars to perk up at the mention of his fiancée but instead his face darkened. 

Steven half expected a little storm cloud to appear above his head.

“Um. It’s not my business,” Steven said hesitantly, “but did you guys have a fight or something?”

Lars shrunk in on himself. “She’s been acting weird lately.”

Steven raised his eyebrows. “Weird?”

Lars huffed out a breath, “Yeah, like, we talk on the phone or we video chat with each other, but it’s like she can’t _wait_ to get off the phone with me.”

“Aw, Lars...” Steven replied sympathetically. “She’s probably just tired. It can’t be easy having to do performances almost every night and then traveling between.”

Lars shook his head. “No, it’s different. Last time she toured, it _wasn’t_ like this. We’d talk until she fell asleep. Now I can barely get her on the phone for five minutes before she’s making some excuse to go.”

Oh boy. Sadie and Lars were kind of famous in Beach City as a hot and cold couple, but Steven had been happy for them when they announced their engagement, he was hoping it worked out. 

“I’m sorry, that sounds rough. But you’ll get to talk to her when she visits, she’ll be here next month!”

Lars didn’t look convinced but nodded, “Yeah, she can’t get rid of me by hanging up when we’re face to face.”

Oof. 

“Lars, why don’t you leave early today?” Steven asked. “You could work on your baking stuff at home, or something. It might help to do something creative instead of hanging out in the shop.” 

Lars frowned, “Chives won’t be here until _three_. You’re okay with managing the store by yourself for that long?”

Steven glanced over the expanse of the empty shop and smiled dryly. 

“I think I’ll somehow manage.”

Lars gave him a relieved look. “Thanks, I just keep stewing in it.”

“No problem, I hope you feel better.”

Lars nodded and left through the employee entrance after he made sure he had his keys and wallet with him. 

Steven sighed. He hoped Sadie would help clarify things when she landed back in Beach City next month. 

He refocused on his to do list for the day. 

The music shop had been in Beach City since his dad opened it over twenty years ago. It still had vinyl records, but had moved over more into instrument retail along with maintenance and repairs in light of the fact most music was digital these days. 

Steven had asked Jenny to help him create an online website for the shop since she had created the one for the band to sell their merch on. It had helped a lot, since more and more people preferred to buy online. 

Steven pulled a stack of records a customer had reserved and taped the receipt with their order number to it, placing them on the shelf behind the counter for them to pick up later. 

He felt eyes on him and turned to see Pink watching him, “What’s up bud?”

“...Can I help?” Pink asked as he set aside the game.

Steven smiled, “Oh, sure!”

After a while, Pink decided he enjoyed helping Steven out at the music store.

Steven didn’t play abrasive music over the speakers, and streamed mellow songs or power ballads from classic rock bands and other easy throwbacks. 

Pink also enjoyed the organization aspect. He liked alphabetizing the records and helping Steven tidy the merchandise when lazy or careless customers didn’t put things back in the right spot.

The people who did come in were usually quiet, mostly they scoped for records or got maintenance supplies for their instruments. A customer came in to pick up the records that Steven had set aside for them earlier.

It was funny that most of them didn’t give Pink anything but a passing glance. 

Steven later chuckled over that, while they split some sandwiches he'd brought along for their lunch. “That’s Beach City for you. People were going nuts when Mr. Smiley got a new dance game for the arcade but they don’t blink twice at a new gem.”

That was a relief, honestly. Pink wasn’t interested in being the center of attention, that wasn’t why he was here. 

Later, Steven’s coworker, Chives, arrived for her shift. 

She walked in from the employee entrance, already smiling once she saw Steven. 

“Hey Steven!” She tucked a short lock of hair behind her ear, “How are you?”

He looked up from an ordering form he was filling out and smiled back at her, 

“I’m good, you?”

“Good, I just-” She paused when she noticed Pink sitting on the counter, her expression turning uncertain. “Um...Is that one of your...gem friends?”  
  
“Oh!” Steven straightened up and gestured to the gem, “This is Pink Agate! He just joined my family just a couple days ago.”

She nodded and like all other residents of Beach City when encountering something gem related, rolled with it. “Oh, cool! I’m Chives!” She reached out her hand to shake his, the bracelets on her wrist jingling and Pink stared at her blankly before lifting his hand in greeting instead. 

“Oh! Sorry, I forgot.” She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand which was adorned with multiple gold colored rings. “You gems don’t know what a handshake is.”

Pink bristled in annoyance at her assumption but Steven quickly smoothed her misunderstanding over,

“He knows what it is, Pink just doesn’t like touching strangers.”

Or anyone but Steven, really. Now that he thought about it. Steven had assumed Pink’s touch aversion was reserved exclusively for gems, but apparently it included humans as well. 

“Why does he um, look like you.” She squinted at Pink. “Well, a pink you? With horns.”

Steven once again felt himself fumbling for an answer. “Um. He just likes to do that.”

“Sure, of course.” She said, shrugging it off, causing the wide collar of her sage green sweater to slouch off one shoulder. “So, anyway, I needed to ask you something today!” She said leaning against the counter.

“Yeah?” Steven asked.

“There’s this really cool DJ, her name’s Sabine. Ever heard of her?” Chives ask while fidgeting with the heavy pendent on the long chain of her necklace.

Steven smiled, “Oh, Sabine Leclaire? With the pink hair?” 

When Chives nodded affirmatively he answered, “Oh, sure.” he pointed to his ears. “She’s the one who did all my piercings for me, she’s awesome.”

Chives’ face fell a little. “ _What_?”

“Yeah,” Steven continued as he typed in some numbers on the form, “She works at a tattoo and piercing shop called Left Horizon over in Ocean Town.” 

“Oh.” Chives said with a small frown. “You guys are... _friends_?” 

Steven laughed, “Well it’s hard not to be a little friendly with someone who’s pierced you _eight times_ , right?”

“But just _friends_?” She pressed.

Pink was starting to get a strange, bad feeling about her.

“Yes?” Steven asked, a little bit confused. “I mean I’ve hung out with her girlfriend and their group of friends a couple times but you know how busy I usually am between the shop and gem stuff.”

Though the past couple days he’d had much more free time now that his mom had temporarily benched him from missions. He probably would be more upset about that if he wasn’t passing the empty spaces in his schedule with Pink to keep him company. 

She smiled. “Oh, of course. Like I said, she's awesome! Anyway, she has a rave show coming up next weekend, you wanna go?”

“Oh, she texted me about that, but I’m not sure I’ll make it.” He said. “Amethyst said she might go though.”

Steven had a feeling Pink’s shy and introverted nature wouldn’t appreciate a huge crowd of people dancing and jostling each other with loud bone shaking bass music. 

Chives pouted and reached out to grab Steven’s shoulders, giving him a playful shake.  
  
“What? _C’mon_ , all you do is _work_!” 

Pink felt himself twitch when her hands moved down Steven’s biceps, his forearms, and finally took his hands in hers, squeezing them. “Please?” She whined, “The last time you went to a concert was when Sour Cream was in town before he went on tour and that was like, a _million_ years ago!” 

Steven hesitated. “I’m not making any promises, Chives.”

“It would be so fun! We...could even go _together_ , if you wanted! You know, carpool! It’s more economical that way, right?” She said, looking up at Steven while she twirled a lock of her hair. 

Steven held his hands up. “Again, no promises. I’ll let you know if I can, though.”

She gave him a smile, “I’ll try not to get my hopes up.”

Pink suddenly understood why he didn’t like this girl. 

Aside from how she had _touched_ him, It was the way she was _looking_ at Steven. 

The way her eyes roved over him, and how she pushed into his personal space.

He thought back to the selfie picture Steven had shown him. Pink hadn’t been paying too attention to her in the picture, aside from how much she looked like her aunt. But now he realized she hadn’t been looking nervous, she had been excited. Because Steven had put his arm around her for the photo and she’d been looking at him. 

This girl was obviously completely enamored with him. 

Steven was unaware, and Pink didn’t understand how he could be. 

He watched in quiet anger as throughout the rest of Steven’s shift, she made excuses to put her hands on him. She’d touch his arm to get his attention, she’d put her hand on his lower back to silently signal if she was going behind him to grab something, she even pretended to pick a stray thread off the front of his shirt. 

And when she wasn’t trying to touch him, she was constantly looking at him whenever Steven wasn’t paying attention. Her green doe eyed gazes were blatant and frankly made Pink uncomfortable. 

He could have possibly gotten over all that though if he hadn’t seen what happened next.

Steven was stocking some merchandise and crouched down to grab a box before climbing the step stool to put it on the top shelf. 

Chives shamelessly and blatantly stared at the round curve of his ass, her face turning red with a blush. She must have felt Pink’s heated glare at her because when she glanced over at him, she jumped a little, realizing she’d been caught and hastily started putting price stickers on some clearance items. 

After that disgusting display, Pink silently vowed to never let Steven be alone with her in a room ever again. 

To say Pink was relieved when it was time for Steven to clock out would be an understatement. 

“Okay, have a good one, Chives.” He said as he got his messenger bag out from under the counter. 

He turned to walk out from behind the counter but Chives lightly stepped into Steven’s way and reached up, pulling him into a hug.

Pink was so startled, he didn’t know what to do.

Steven patted her back, obviously surprised. “Chives? You _okay_?”

She nodded, and hugged him tighter. “Mom and I had this huge fight over the phone last night.” Her voice became shaky, “I just really wanted a hug.”

“Aw, of course Chives.” Steven replied with a sweet smile, putting his arms around her and giving her a gentle squeeze. 

Pink felt something wrench and twist in his gem as he watched his human hug the willowy figured girl back. Steven was obviously doing it as a friend comforting another friend, but Pink saw the way she flushed and closed her eyes in bliss. 

_Mine._ He thought, simmering in anger.

Steven glanced over at Pink, obviously he’d heard that and Pink struggled to get himself back into check. 

_Logically_ , he knew Steven was allowed to hug and touch whoever he wanted, Pink was just being jealous and possessive. But a part of him still rallied against that, that no, Steven shouldn’t be holding anyone like that but _him._

And stars be damned, he saw Steven raise an eyebrow at him which meant he’d heard _that_ too.

Steven pulled away from Chives and told her to have a good day before he took Pink’s hand in his as they walked out of the shop. 

In the car, Pink quietly buckled his seat belt and felt Steven’s eyes staring at him.

“Okay. Are we gonna talk about the pink gem in the room?” Steven asked, keeping his voice light. 

Steven had been confused at the wave of hot anger he’d felt when Chives had hugged him. But then the furious voice saying _‘Mine’,_ and the various other thoughts from the gem had clarified what had set Pink off. 

Pink flushed _. I just got angry is all. Because she hugged you._

“Because I _hugged_ her?” Steven asked, obviously confused by Pink’s ire. 

Pink thought back to the way Chives had looked held in Steven’s arms. How happy she’d seemed with his affection. 

She was attractive by human standards. Pretty, even. Why _shouldn’t_ Steven be attracted to her? 

Pink suddenly empathized with Pearl much more than he ever did. Is this what she’d felt like when Rose became involved with Greg? This terrible, _sick_ feeling?

He looked over to see Steven leaning against the steering wheel while he stared at Pink with his dark, appraising eyes. He felt like Steven was able to actually see _into_ him when he looked at him like that. 

At least that was something else he had over her. Steven hadn’t looked at Chives like that. 

Pink didn’t know what to say though. Frankly, this was all very overwhelming. He’d never felt anything like this before.

“I don’t want to talk about this.” Pink stubbornly replied, wringing the end of his hoodie in his hands anxiously. 

If Steven were anyone else, he’d probably insist on it. He would probably say Pink’s behavior was rude and demand the gem to explain himself.

But of course, Steven wasn’t like anyone else.

Instead he nodded. “Okay. But when you’re ready, I’d like us to talk about it.”

Pink almost wished Steven would get angry with him, he didn’t deserve his patience. He didn’t know how Steven put up with him and his mood swings, it had to be frustrating and annoying and-

He felt Steven’s hand touch his face and automatically turned to press his cheek into Steven’s palm.

“Pink, stop.” Steven said. “You’re _allowed_ to not want to talk about something if you don’t want to. There are times where _I_ don’t feel ready to talk about something, it’s okay.”

Pink nodded, understanding what Steven was saying but not quite believing it himself. 

He blinked when he heard the click of his own seat belt releasing and felt it going slack as it retracted. 

“C’mere,” Steven said, tugging on Pink’s hand. “You need a hug.”

Not needing a second invitation, Pink immediately climbed over the stick shift between their seats and into Steven’s lap. 

Steven’s arms were already around him, warm and comforting. Pink sighed as he relaxed in his hold, pressing his face into Steven’s neck.

He got irritated though when he caught the smell of some artificially sweet, cheap perfume covering Steven’s natural scent. He realized it was probably Chives’ and it must have gotten onto Steven when she’d hugged him. 

He was rubbing his cheek against Steven’s neck before he could stop himself, trying to get the cloying, chemical odor off of him. 

Steven’s lips quirked up in a wry smile. “ _Oh._ ” 

“What?” Pink asked absently, still trying to get rid of the gross perfume smell.

“Nothing, never mind.” Steven said, content to let Pink rub against him like a cat.

Steven had thought maybe Pink was just being protective, since Chives was pretty much a stranger to him...but Pink was _jealous_. Why though? Steven had been touched and hugged by his family, so why did Chives, who was little more than a friendly acquaintance set Pink off? 

Pink finally settled down, apparently feeling he’d erased enough of the perfume from Steven’s skin. 

Steven sniffed the inside of his own shirt collar, “I smell like roses now,” He said in amusement and looked down at Pink.

The gem pushed his face into Steven’s shoulder, not deigning to comment, but Steven could feel the wave of satisfaction from him. 

Wow, okay. 

“Still don’t wanna talk about it?” Steven asked, trying not to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. 

_No._ The gem replied subbornly.

“Uh huh. Well, we should probably get going.”

Pink nodded and was about to climb back into his own seat but was surprised when he heard Steven flick on the ignition to start the engine.

He was still in his lap as Steven put the car into gear and reversed out of his parking spot.

Pink looked up at Steven with wide eyes, “I feel like this is violating more than several human traffic laws.”

Steven shrugged, giving him a boyish smile. “Beach City doesn't have a police force and there’s basically no traffic here, ever. We’ll be fine. The speed limit is fifteen, anyway. We’ll be in second gear the whole time we’re in town.”

Pink chuffed, “And your mom was worried about _me_ being dangerous.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t make this into a bad habit.” Steven promised as he pulled out of the parking lot onto the main road. 

Pink nodded as he settled back down against Steven's chest, but honestly probably wouldn't mind if he did.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

When they got back to the temple, Steven excused himself to the upstairs bathroom and Pink waited in the living room for him since they’d be making dinner when he came back down.

Being alone wasn’t great for him, because it gave him time to stew in his thoughts. 

He couldn’t help but get angry as he remembered how Chives had put her hands on Steven.

He trusted that Chives girl as far as he could throw her- no wait. That analogy didn’t work, he could probably pick her up and fling her out of earth’s atmosphere (he secretly relished the fantasy of doing just that) but the point was, he didn’t trust her. 

Amethyst blinked over at him. “Wow, I can tell you’re grumpy. Was the music store that boring?”

When Pink shook his head she tapped her chin. “Well what’s the problem then?”

There was a notepad on the coffee table that had a list of items for the grocery store and Pink wrote “Chives” in his messy scrawl underneath Steven’s neat handwriting. 

Amethyst got an enlightened expression. “Ohhhhh. I get it.” She wiggled her eyebrows. 

“Was she macking on him _again_? Her crush on him is like, the worst kept secret in Beach City.”

Pink felt some heat rise behind his gem at the thought again of how long she’d been making eyes at Steven and branding him with her touches.

“You know they went out on a date, once?” Amethyst asked lightly.

The pencil in Pink’s hand crumbled into splinters of wood and graphite dust when he clenched it in his fist. 

“ _WOW._ ” She exclaimed with wide eyes. “Dude, hang on let me clarify- Dang, you’re glowing like a lightbulb- and did your horns get a little bigger?”

He stared at her pointedly and she raised her hands up, “ _Okay_ , so. A couple months ago when she first got here and she was all gaga, she asked Steven to take her to Beachapalooza. It’s like a party around here? Anyway, he did, saying he wanted to make her feel welcome at Beach City since she was going to be here a while.” 

Pink slowly nodded as he silently signaled her to continue.

“Buuut nothing happened. After he dropped her off and came home he mentioned she was quiet and sulky but he thought she was just homesick. I’m nosey so I called her aunt, Vidalia. She told me Chives had been trying to get up in his business all night but our boy was so oblivious he didn’t notice any of her signals and she struck out. He just thought she was being friendly.” Amethyst shrugged, “I guess she’s determined, sounds like she hasn’t given up yet.”

Pink calmed down, he felt the heat leave his eyes and his skin didn’t feel so hot anymore. 

Amethyst gave him a look. “Wow, just _wow_ . You have it _bad._ ”

Pink didn’t replay but looked up when Steven came down the stairs. “Hey guys. Anything in particular you want for dinner? We went grocery shopping yesterday so we have some choices.”

Amethyst smirked at Pink. “Well I know Pink has a craving for _something_.”

Steven smiled cheerfully, “Oh? Was there something specific you wanted?”

Pink reminded himself to get some sort of petty revenge on Amethyst later as he tried not to let Steven feel his embarrassment. 

Let it be said, that Amethyst was nothing if unpredictable. 

“You should tell him about your weird complex about humans, Steve-O. Then maybe he won’t get so jealous over you.”

Pink was alarmed she’d just casually said that, but became shocked when he felt Steven actually get _angry_.  
  
“Amethyst,” Steven said, his voice edged with warning. “ _Don’t._ ”  
  
Amethyst huffed. “Steven, come _on_ . It’s been _years,_ when are you going to get over that crap?”

Steven visibly flinched before he said, “First, it’s not _your_ choice to decide how I process stuff. Second, We’re _not_ talking about this right now, I’m asking you to drop it.”

“It's just dumb that it's still messing you you though!” Amethyst pushed, starting to get angry, too. 

Pink felt Steven's cold anger roll over him like an icy wave, but it was tinged with a dark undertone of grief. His eyes locked onto Steven with alarm, what _was_ this?

Steven glared at Amethyst. “What the hell, Ames?” He gestured at her, “Where is this coming from? Why are you trying to pick a _fight_ with me?”

Amethyst bristled, “I’m _not!_ I’m just-”

“Yes, you are.” Steven said with a frown. “Did Pearl say something earlier that made you feel crappy? You _always_ do this whenever she does.”

Amethyst flushed, and her eyes darted to the side. Obviously, Steven had hit the nail on the head.

Steven frowned, “Then you need to go work it out with _her,_ or we can talk about it if you want. But don’t take your stuff out on _me_. That’s not fair.”

“Shut _up_ , you don’t know what you’re talking about!” Amethyst sniped back.

Steven huffed, “I know _you_ , and I can tell when you’re _projecting_ your stuff onto me.”

“Don’t use your fancy therapy bullcrap you heard from some lame _podcast_ on me!”

“Why not?” Steven asked. “I can recommend some good ones. _Dear Prudence_ is one of my favorites.”

Amethyst glared and threw a pillow from the couch at him before stomping off to her room. 

Pink glanced at Steven helplessly. “Um.” That had happened so fast he’d been unsure of what to do.

Steven sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s okay. Sometimes we argue and get into stupid fights just like other families do. She’ll probably apologize tomorrow in her own way like usual and then we’ll be fine.”

Steven was right. 

Needing something to do after dinner to work off his tension, Steven decided to bake brownies from scratch. Pink was setting aside the ingredients for him while Steven measured them out.

The temple door opened and Amethyst tentatively asked if she could help Steven with something. 

Steven didn’t try to resume their argument, and Pink could sense his relief. 

“You could get rid of the empty egg shells.” Steven replied, handing her the bowl.

She quietly munched on them and Pink watched as she bumped her shoulder against Steven’s and he nudged her back, the strange friction between them completely gone.

Pink was glad. He didn’t know much about social interpersonal skills, he was useless in that department. It nagged at him though, what had Amethyst been talking about? What human complex did Steven have? It irked him that there was something about his human that he didn’t know. He wanted to ask, but not only was it obvious the topic upset Steven, but did Pink have a right to know? When he wasn’t able to tell Steven about his own complicated issues?

He stared at Steven, watching him plug in the electric mixer when Steven turned to smile at him. “Wanna try to use this? It’s kinda fun.”

Pink pushed the thoughts out of his mind to parse over later and nodded, letting Steven stand behind him while he showed Pink how to use the hand mixer. Steven’s hand was warm on his while he guided him on how to hold it, and Pink leaned back a little to feel Steven’s chest press up against his back.  
  
Amethyst was right, Pink had it bad. Though, it certainly didn’t feel “bad”. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

The next few days were considerably calmer without any drama or any gem invasions and pretty much followed the same routine.

They’d wake up and after a battle of wills, so to speak, Steven would manage to wrangle from Pink’s hold.

“You _definitely_ aren’t a morning person are you?” Steven teased when Pink groused about getting up one morning. It was less about the waking up part and more about not being close Steven anymore. 

When Steven was sleeping in his arms, Pink knew exactly where he was. He could feel Steven’s heartbeat, reassured he was safe. After being next to him all night, and having Steven all to himself, it was hard for Pink to let him go. 

They’d go downstairs once Steven was dressed (Pink still jumped down from the balcony to the front door to pretend he hadn’t slept in Steven’s room all night) and he’d help Steven make breakfast. 

The gems had been downstairs at breakfast the past few days. Pink noticed they seemed to be more and more relaxed around him which was a relief, he hadn’t enjoyed how tense they’d been around him before because it made Steven anxious, too. 

He supposed his protectiveness over Steven during the Hessonite fiasco had helped smooth the way to them trusting him more, especially Amethyst who treated him more and more like part of the family. 

  
A couple days after the battle with Hessonite, Rose had talked to him during breakfast.  
  
“I never said this at the time, but thank you for protecting my son and the others. I won’t forget that.” She said. 

The other gems echoed the sentiment, appreciative looks on their faces. Even Pearl, who was probably the most distrustful member of Steven’s family. 

Pink wasn’t _happy_ Hessonite had threatened his human, but he _grudgingly_ admitted she’d been instrumental in the gems being more open towards the idea of him staying. 

After breakfast, Pink continued to go to the music shop with Steven and would thwart that awful Chives girl’s attempts to get close to him. Pink got into the habit of following Steven around the store so she couldn’t get near him. 

Pink didn’t miss how Chives was obviously annoyed at the way he monopolized Steven’s attention, throwing dirty looks his way when she thought he didn’t see. He didn’t feel guilty about it at all, Steven was his and she needed to go find someone else to moon over. There were plenty of humans she could choose from, but not this one. 

Pink was willing to share Steven with his family. They were important to Steven and had loved him first after all, so it was only fair. 

But it was clear to Pink that Chives was only interested in Steven for what she wanted him to do for her. Or to her. 

Just to be petty (and because he also loved doing it), he made it a point to touch Steven as much as possible. He imagined being able to see his own finger prints on Steven and thought _mine mine_ **_mine_ ** _._

Was he being ridiculously immature? Yes, but he didn’t care. And honestly, Pink wasn’t sure what irritated Chives more. The way he clung to his human, or the way Steven doted on Pink in return. 

Steven didn’t _ever_ push him away or shake off his touch. Rather, he seemed to unconsciously return his affection. Pink would rest his chin on Steven’s shoulder while his human typed in a customer’s online order and Steven would reach up to absently pet through his hair. Or how he’d lean back into Pink’s arms when he was hugged from behind. 

Some humans were uncomfortable when it came to public displays of affection. Steven appeared to be blessedly unconcerned with that. Maybe it was his affectionate nature, or maybe it was the bond between them, or perhaps even both. 

Either way, Pink was happy he seemed to have completely thrown a wrench in Chives’ irritating attempts to seduce Steven, not that she’d been particularly adept at it to begin with. 

Her idea of flirting narrowed down to touching Steven and twirling her hair while giggling loudly. These tactics didn’t work at all but she was too simple to try anything else, and not daring enough to do anything bolder than that. She was mostly a non threat, even if she was obnoxious. However, Pink wasn’t taking any chances.   
  
After dinner, when the gems were home in the evening, Pink would go up to the lighthouse under the pretence he was going to stay there. He’d watch Steven’s window from the balcony and would sneak down to his room at night when Steven gave him the all clear using the flashlight on his phone as an agreed on signal. 

They’d do quiet things like play video games or watch a movie until Steven got tired and they’d bed down together. 

This was probably his favorite time, because it was when he got to selfishly have his human all to himself. 

More and more, he found himself wanting to be closer to Steven. He’d lie close to his human, completely wrapped up in his arms but still wanting to somehow be closer. The desire only seemed to grow stronger with every passing day.

He’d never felt this way about his other half in his old world, they’d been two halves of one person. And while of course he had loved his better half with every atom in his gem, it had _never_ been in a way that sparked these strange new feelings. 

He’d kissed Steven before because he had wanted to heal him, but also because it had felt comforting, and nice. A close type of intimacy that only he had shared with Steven.  
  
Now he was realizing he’d probably done that for other reasons too. 

Pink didn’t know what to think about it, or how to feel about the fact he wanted Steven in a distinctly not-gem way. 

In a _human_ way. 

He watched from the bed as Steven took off his shirt as he was changing into the one he was going to sleep in and struggled not to blush. Steven didn’t seem to think anything of undressing in front of him. Pink liked that, the trust that Steven gave him so freely. 

Pink looked at the freckles on Steven’s back and shoulders, dappled across his skin like stars. He was overcome with the desire to kiss every one of them. 

Steven visibly twitched and turned to look at Pink.

For a moment, Pink worried Steven was going to say something. Had his thoughts leaked through again?

A new song started playing from the laptop and Steven sighed when he heard the echoing synth intro.

“Oh, this one’s probably my favorite from this album.” He said.

It was a gentle, slow beat as a piano played warmly with a soft electric guitar riff smoothly joining along as a compliment. 

Steven pulled the shirt on and smiled at Pink, “Have you ever danced before?”

Pink bit his lip. “...Once. It was a long time ago, though.”

“Would you like to?” Steven asked. 

Pink felt his chest squeeze. “...With you?”

Steven nodded, “Yeah. But if you don’t want to, I under-”

“I do.” Pink said quickly, scared Steven would change his mind. “I want to dance with you.”

Steven reached out and offered his hand, which Pink eagerly took. Steven asked, “Did you slow dance before?”

He shook his head, and Steven had Pink rest his hand on his shoulder while Steven wrapped an arm around his waist, joining their other hands together.

“That’s okay, it’s really easy. We just move to the music.”

Pink pressed up close to him while they swayed to the song, following Steven’s lead as he stepped them around the bedroom. 

Pink hadn’t done this type of dance before and he was worried about messing it up or stepping on Steven’s feet. Luckily there weren’t any complicated steps involved, he just had to follow where Steven guided him. 

It was nothing like the dance he’d done before with his other half, when they’d fused after being split apart. That one had been full of relief and joy, this was something different. 

It was unhurried as they drifted around the room together, like they had an eternity before them and time was irrelevant. In Steven’s arms Pink felt held, as though he was something treasured and precious. 

As the piano’s melody rose in tempo, Steven surprised Pink by suddenly twirling him around. Pink’s wide eyed expression must have been funny because Steven gave a soft laugh before pulling Pink back into his arms.

“I’ve always wanted to do that with someone.” Steven said, his lips pressing against Pink’s temple, “I’m glad I got to do it with you.”

Steven’s thumb rubbed the back of his hand and Pink sighed as he rested his head against Steven’s shoulder, hearing the soft pulse of his human’s life. 

Steven started quietly humming along to the song, and Pink closed his eyes, feeling the sound as it gently thrummed to the core of his gem. 

He wanted to burn this moment into his memory. To remember how tenderly Steven was holding him, the warmth of his arms and the sweet sound of his voice. 

The song ended, but Steven didn’t pull away, instead he wrapped his arms around Pink in a hug, which Pink gladly returned. 

“Pink?” Steven said softly. 

“Yes?”

Steven reached up and palmed the cheek of his face. Pink smiled and leaned into his touch, enjoying the warmth of his hand. Steven looked at him with his dark eyes, holding Pink in place as though they had their own gravity.

“Can I kiss you?” Steven asked, his voice shy. 

Pink stared at him in shock.

Steven, mistaking his surprised silence as rejection gently pulled away, and started babbling from nerves as he dragged a hand back through his own hair, 

“Oh jeez, I’ve been misreading your signals this entire time haven’t I? Sorry, I guess I got confused and-”

Pink was struggling to remember words, but managed to say,

“Of course you can kiss me.” He reached up to run his hand through Steven’s hair, fixing the mussed up curls.

“I’m only surprised because you thought you had to _ask_ first.”

Now it was Steven’s turn to be flustered, his eyes wide. He blushed and started mumbling something out about the importance of consent until Pink interrupted him. 

Pink leaned up and put his arms around Steven’s shoulders. “You’re all I want, _everything_ I want.”

Steven’s face blushed pink and his mouth parted in surprise, but no sound came out.

“That’s why you’re the only one I talk to, the only one who can _touch_ me.” Pink continued.

“Oh,” Steven said, obviously overwhelmed. 

Steven leaned forward, and Pink felt a nudge against his mind, like a question. Steven moved slowly, clearly wanting to give Pink a chance to pull away or stop him.

As if he’d ever reject Steven. 

Steven’s lips pressed against his, and it was so different from the insistent kisses Pink had initiated under the guise of healing him. 

Steven was gentle and sweet, not wanting to push.

He didn’t know. Steven didn’t know just how much Pink would love to be caged by his heart, by his hands. Pink was struck by the thought that he wanted Steven to kiss him every day for the rest of his existence. 

Steven pulled away, eyes hopeful. “Is _this_ okay?”

In answer, Pink kissed Steven back, and it wasn’t soft as Steven’s kiss had been. Pink wanted him to know how much he wanted him, so Steven would never doubt again.

Steven gave a surprised sound when Pink pushed him backwards onto the bed and climbed up on it after him. 

“Pink?” He squeaked out.  
  
Pink kissed him again once he settled over him and pressed his tongue into Steven’s willing mouth so he could kiss him the way he’d been wanting to for days now. He tangled his clawed fingers in Steven’s dark hair, trying to be careful not to scrape him.

Steven pulled him down and eagerly kissed him back as he ran his hand down Pink’s chest to his stomach. He felt his hand bump into something raised and hard where a navel would be on a human. Pink was kissing his neck and groaned when Steven’s fingers curiously traced the hard edges that were there through the material of his hoodie.

When he realized it was likely Pink’s _gem_ which he always kept hidden, Steven hastily moved his hand away, shifting it over to rest on Pink’s hip, instead.

From what he understood growing up in a household of gems, it was an unspoken taboo to touch another gem’s stone. He didn’t want to offend Pink or overstep a boundary. 

Pink shook his head. “It’s okay.” He took Steven’s hand and pushed it under his clothes and over the smooth surface of his gem. “You can touch me there. Only _you_.”

His breath hitched when Steven’s fingers traced the facets. It felt like a spark- a _connection_ \- something slotting into place. 

Curious, Steven looked down to see what it looked like.

Steven breathed in a soft gasp. 

He sat up to get a better look at it, unable to tear his eyes away. 

While everyone in his gem family had lovely gemstones, Pink’s was probably the prettiest he’d ever seen. 

It was pointed at the top, but widened out and tapered at the bottom with a gorgeous multifaceted cut that made it glitter, even in the low light of the room. 

He realized Pink had gotten quiet and Steven looked up to see Pink staring up at him from the bed with a worried expression. Pink sat up as well, biting his lip. 

_Is something wrong?_

“Oh, no of course not. I’m just- your gem is beautiful, why do you hide it all the time?”

And Steven wished he could cram the words back onto his mouth because that question was _rude_ . Amethyst’s gem was _always_ partially covered due to her own insecurities, Pink likely had a good reason for keeping his hidden too.

Pink didn’t get offended though. “It’s just for you.”

“...Just for me?” Steven asked in confusion.

Pink nodded and kissed the line of his jaw, wanting to pick up where they left off.

“ _Yours_.”

Steven got that sense again. That strange, possessive feeling that told him Pink was right. He didn’t try to push the feeling down or suppress it this time though. 

He kissed Pink on the mouth, and didn’t stop the urge to pull Pink close against him as they kissed, hands running over him. 

Steven’s hand brushed over his gem again as he softly breathed out, 

“ _Mine_.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

  
  
Credit for Steven’s shoe design goes to [ @hastyhastilt ](https://twitter.com/hastyhastilt?lang=bg)! Thank you for letting me use the design, they looked too cute on him! :D  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is one (1) long ass author’s note >.> Feel free to not read lol. 
> 
> The song they dance to is Something Warm (Original Mix) by No Spirit.  
> ℗ Chillhop Publishing. Released on: 2019-12-23. Composer: Philipp Alexander Geitmann  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIOLbeyQHP0
> 
> I feel like that song has a gentle, tender sound. I think of this song as their shared theme. It works especially well since they always describe each other as warm. Sorry, music makes me so emotional. ; _ ;
> 
> Also if you’re curious what music Steven plays in the record shop it’s pretty much this :D  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zP2BKejjk8  
> Copyright belongs to Scorpions, Bon Jovi, The Eagles, Aerosmith, U2, & Led Zeppelin.
> 
> \---------------------------------------------
> 
> Please do not be a dumb himbo like Steven, never let anyone sit in your lap while you drive and obey your local traffic laws, lol.
> 
> I do want to give you fair warning...this story isn’t going to be rated “T” forever. It will probably turn into an “M” or “E” rating in the very, very near future. 
> 
> Liiiike next chapter, probably. Yup.  
> \-------------------------------------------
> 
> Also I have a twitter, I’m going to try to be more active on it and upload art that I don't feature here but still goes with the fic and just other stevencest art in general. I’ll also post updates about the fic, pop in if you feel like it! :D
> 
> https://twitter.com/dizzystarcomet
> 
> \------------------------  
> Finally, I want to thank you all for the kudos and the reviews. I love reading your feelings about the story, I like to go back and read them whenever I’m feeling stuck with writer’s block to help me get back into the writing mood. You all are so sweet <3
> 
> \-----------------------
> 
> In the next chapter…
> 
> Movie Night! :D
> 
> And maybe a little...Netflix & chill? ;D
> 
> ...is that still a thing? Idk, I’m old.


	6. Let Me Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pink and Steven grow more intimate while they discover new aspects of their bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Looks up at shiny new red Explicit button* 
> 
> So how y’all doing today? :D
> 
> If you don’t like smutty stuff, then jump to the end notes for where to skip!
> 
> Please be aware that the last piece of art at the end of the chapter is NSFW!!

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Pearl had checked on Steven while he slept since he was a baby. Even if she wasn’t especially fond of his father, Pearl loved Steven because he came from Rose, the person Pearl adored more than anyone else. 

When he was an infant, she checked him out of a paranoid compulsion. He seemed so tiny and fragile, like the quivering light on the end of a matchstick. Pearl would hover over his crib, reassuring herself that he was fine--that this tiny miracle of life (because Steven’s existence was as much a miracle as it was unprecedented) hadn’t been snuffed out in the quiet of the night. 

As he grew through toddlerhood and childhood, she still did it. When he became a teenager, she checked on him less often, out of respect for his privacy. Besides, he hardly needed one of his guardians to watch over him while he slept. He was vibrant, strong, and healthy. The days she was afraid he would suddenly be gone were over.

And then Jasper happened.

Jasper almost took Steven _away_ from them. Rose had almost not made it in time, _almost_ hadn’t-

Well. She’d saved him, and now Steven was fine, praise the stars. 

But after that, Pearl reverted back to her paranoid compulsions. She resisted the urge to hover over his bed, to make sure that he was breathing while he slept. But did she poke her head into his room and listen for the sound of his soft snores? Yes. Did she occasionally walk into the room altogether just to make _absolutely sure_ he was there and he was safe? That there was nothing lurking in the dark corners of his room that was out to get him? 

Also, yes.

Pink Agate appearing out of nowhere one day and latching onto Steven didn’t help with her paranoia. The gem had shown she, well, “ _he”_ could be trustworthy, Pearl supposed. He’d protected Steven at the very least. But there was something else that bothered her. Pearl didn’t miss the way Pink Agate constantly hovered next to Steven. Nor did she fail to notice the adoring, nearly _worshipful_ gaze he’d cast Steven’s way at any given moment. It was as though Pink Agate was a moon and Steven was the sun he helplessly orbited, drawn in by his gravity. 

Such blatant obsession was cause for concern. She was relieved when Rose had decided the strange, corrupted gem should stay in the lighthouse at night. 

But one night, Pearl had that unshakeable, frantic feeling again. It made her want to check on Steven, to make sure he was _safe_ . They’d just fought Hessonite not long ago, what if there were other gems? Gems who wanted to _hurt_ him? Gems who were secretly hiding in his room, waiting until he was at his most vulnerable to strike?  
  
Logically, Pearl knew she was being ridiculous. Surely they would have heard the sound of a gem with ill intentions breaking into the house. Garnet would have warned them as well, wouldn’t she?  
  
But Pearl couldn’t tamp down on her worry, and decided to give in and indulge herself. She’d check on Steven, and then she’d see he was fine so she could calm down. 

Pearl left her room and did a quick sweep of the living room and kitchen. The other members of her family were in their respective rooms this late at night. Steven wasn’t always a deep sleeper and sometimes woke up if he heard the sound of their voices. Thus, the gems tried to keep their nocturnal activities and conversations in their rooms. 

She quietly made her way up the stairs, taking care not to make the stairs creak as she stepped lightly. Pearl opened his door, peeking into the darkness before stepping into the room altogether. She looked in the corners of the room, satisfied she didn’t see anything lurking in the shadows.

Pearl even opened his closet for any intruders, but nothing was there but his clothes, neatly hung up on their hangers. 

She froze when she felt the strange sensation that she was being watched, an uncomfortable prickle on the back of her neck that made her turn around sharply, ready to take on whatever enemy was in the room with her. 

Pearl nearly poofed herself from shock when she locked eyes with Pink Agate, who was staring at her over Steven’s shoulder from his position on the bed. 

He didn’t say anything (he never did though), but he silently watched her with his unblinking, bright gaze that pierced through the room’s darkness like stars. 

Pearl hadn’t been able to see him because of how wrapped up in Steven’s arms he was. But how could she have missed him while his horns were glowing along with his intense, fuschia eyes?   
  
She took a step closer and Pink’s eyes narrowed into slits. Steven was curled around him, cuddling Pink Agate close to his chest with the gem’s head tucked under his chin. He was holding Pink Agate like he was a beloved plush toy, rather than a corrupted gem who apparently wielded enough power to have single handedly defeated an elite Homeworld soldier.

Once she got over her shock, she was indignant, he _wasn’t_ supposed to be in here. He was supposed to be in the _lighthouse_.

“Pink Agate-” She whispered, “What are you doing in Steven’s room?”

Pink Agate didn’t answer her but he slowly blinked at her as if to say, 

_“What does it_ **_look_ ** _like I’m doing?”_

“You need to go back to the lighthouse.” She whispered at him between her teeth.

Pink Agate gave another slow blink.

_“Now.”_ She hissed. “Or I’m getting _Rose_ ,” she added, fully intent on following through with the threat.

After another moment where she thought he was just going to completely ignore her, he finally lifted his arm away from around Steven, and started to move back from him, disengaging from his hold.

Pearl breathed out, satisfied the strange gem was deigning to listen to her. 

Steven suddenly grumbled and gave an annoyed huff in his sleep before he insistently tugged Pink Agate back against him. Steven pressed his face into the gem’s curls, quieting down when Pink Agate was back in place where he was before, held in Steven’s arms.

Once settled, Pink Agate gave Pearl a dry look as if to say, _“What now?”_

Pearl silently fumed at him. She glanced over at Steven to see his face while he slept. Grudgingly, she couldn’t deny he looked more relaxed than he usually did. 

Lately, when Steven slept there was a small furrow between his brows, but it was absent now. When was the last time she’d seen him so peaceful? 

Not since before Jasper, she believed. 

Steven sighed out a sleepy noise as he cuddled more around Pink Agate, as if to prevent the gem from moving away from him again. 

Pink Agate for his part didn’t seem to mind being manhandled, and let Steven squeeze him closer without complaint. 

How long had this been going on for?

If Steven’s relaxed expression was anything to go by, Pearl was guessing it had been happening for a while now. It was worrisome that she hadn’t even known Pink Agate was in Steven’s bedroom probably for _days_ now, but Pearl and the other gems had been busy trying to locate Jasper and hadn’t always been at the temple during the nights. 

Steven mumbled something in his sleep and Pink Agate’s eyes flicked from her to focus on him. And, there it was again. That soft, adoring gaze that quietly bespoke of how much Pink cherished him. 

Pearl knew that look. She’d seen it on Ruby every time she looked at Sapphire. And Pearl was fairly certain she’d worn it herself more than a few times when she looked at Rose.   
  
Fine.  
  
She supposed if Pink Agate was here, it was one more set of watchful eyes on Steven. It was clear to her now that if the strange gem had wanted to hurt Steven, he would have done it already. Obviously, he’d had plenty of chances to. 

“Don’t think this means I’m not keeping an eye on you.” She whispered into the darkness between them.

She heard Pink Agate make a huffing sound like a scoff before he tucked his face into Steven’s chest. 

That was a dismissal if she’d ever heard one. As a former pearl of Homeworld, she certainly recognized the sound.

She still wasn’t completely on board with this, but for now she would let it go. 

Pearl sighed and with one last look at Steven, she left the room, closing the door behind her. 

Later, Pearl was indignant when she brought up her concern about Pink Agate sleeping with Steven in his room to the rest of her family and Amethyst laughed in her face,

“It took you over _a week_ to finally find out?!”

  
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Steven woke up feeling different. 

Not _bad_ different, though. He struggled to put a feeling to it, or a word. But it eluded him. 

He felt like something inside himself had changed, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was exactly. He wondered if it had something to do with Pink.

These days, it typically did. 

Steven felt himself warm a bit from the memory of last night. He had been the one to put a stop to things when he started to feel like it was too much. Pink had relented and happily curled up in his arms, pressing his ear against Steven’s chest while his heart pounded.

Steven felt like he was rushing into something with both eyes closed. It would have been _so easy_ to get swept up and lost in the messy tempest of their shared feelings last night. But they’d only known each other for a little over a week, and Steven thought maybe they should talk first about what they were comfortable with before they went any farther. 

He was starting to wonder if this was a family trait. After all, the day his dad met his mom, he’d decided to throw his old life away, said to hell with his famous rock star lifestyle, and never looked back. 

Well, it had worked out alright for _them_ , hadn’t it? 

It was something Steven had hoped he’d be able to experience for himself. To be able to be so intimately close with someone, to share all of himself with them. 

After his experience, he never thought it would actually happen, and especially not so _quickly_ . And this was so much more _intense_ than anything he’d felt before. But he enjoyed it. He didn’t know what this was exactly, but he knew that he liked how Pink made him feel. 

Steven reached up with a hand to trace the faceted edges of Pink’s horns and was content to watch the gem sleep.   
  
Before Pink had entered his life, Steven wasn’t really the type to languish in bed when there were things that needed to be done. Normally, he would have made his way downstairs to get some coffee and start the day as soon as he had woken up. 

Now though, he didn’t even entertain the notion of leaving the bed if Pink wasn’t up yet. Pink was clingy, and liked to be around Steven and know where he was. It wasn’t just that though. Aside from not wanting Pink to feel like he had been left alone, Steven just didn’t want to be apart from him.

Steven breathed out. There was no way this was normal for humans. Most people valued at least _some_ amount of time alone with themselves, it was natural. He was like that before, too. That’s why he would hole up in the lighthouse sometimes. But Steven hadn’t felt that way since the moment he’d first laid eyes on Pink sleeping in his bed. He hadn’t felt the desire to be by himself, and furthermore, it was as though something inside him was...complete? Whole? Was that the word he was looking for? 

Steven had never felt like half of a person though. Well, not until he met Pink and felt some hollow place inside of him suddenly fill up, not realizing that there’d ever been an emptiness there to begin with. 

This was okay though, right? It felt right to _him_ at least. 

He still remembered that feeling from last night, overwhelming as it rushed over him. 

_Mine._

Pink gave a soft hum in his sleep, pulling Steven out of his own thoughts.

He studied Pink’s face which was placid as he rested. Steven gently touched the pink corruption stains under his left eye and absently traced across the bridge of Pink’s nose to the other side, until his fingertips brushed the matching markings under his other eye. 

Pink suddenly blinked awake, his bright gaze instantly focusing on Steven. Unlike humans, there was no residual sleepiness in Pink who was completely alert now that he was awake.

“Morning.” Steven said, his voice warm with fondness. 

“Morning,” Pink replied, leaning his face into Steven’s hand, quietly asking for more touches. 

Steven smiled and happily obliged him, stroking his cheek. He felt Pink’s emotions, how they seemed to thrum with contentment.

He sighed and gave Steven a look with his eyes soft, “I liked last night.”

Steven blushed, clearly the gem didn’t believe in mincing words. “I did, too.”

Pink’s arms went around Steven’s waist, pulling him closer. “Then why did we have to _stop_?”

Steven fidgeted, Clearly Pink wanted to continue their conversation. It felt illicit somehow, to be talking about it now with bright morning light filling the room.

“Oh- I just, I was worried. Worried that we were going too fast? And we should probably, I don’t know, _talk_ about it?”

Pink’s eyes were shy as he asked, “But it was _good_ , right?”

“Of course it was.” Steven replied, quick to reassure him. 

Pink tilted his head against the pillow, smiling. “So, we can kiss more?”

“O-Oh.” Steven replied. “Well, I wanted to talk to you about that actually.”

Pink hummed and ran hand up the front of Steven’s shirt, “ _Talk_?”

“About- um, like, what are we comfortable with? What things do we like?”

He smiled at Steven, eyes practically shining with mirth. “I like waking up to you in the morning like this everyday, it’s nice.”

“Yeah, it is.” Steven agreed with an easy smile.

“I like when you play with my hair.” Pink added as own his fingers carded through Steven’s hair, “Do you like this too?”

The gentle scrape of his pointed nails against Steven’s scalp felt blissful, but he tried to stay on the subject, 

“Do you have anything you don’t-”

He blinked when he noticed Pink’s cheeks had suddenly flushed, and he made a soft noise as he shifted a little next to Steven. 

Steven was about to ask if he was alright when he felt a strange curl of pleasure that wasn’t his and he realized what was wrong. 

At some point during the conversation, Steven’s hand had drifted across the space between them and he’d been absentmindedly rubbing the back of his fingers against Pink’s gem. 

He pulled his hand back from under Pink’s sweater, “Oh stars, _sorry_! I didn’t even know I was-”

“It’s okay,” Pink said, nuzzing into Steven’s neck. “I _like_ when you do that.”

“I know,” Steven fretted, “but-”

“I _like_ when you touch me, you don’t need to ask.” Pink replied, happy with the way Steven’s warm hand felt on his gem. 

Steven bit his lip at the sensation of Pinks’ lips kissing his neck and struggled not to groan. 

This is the part where Steven should put some distance between them, splash some cold water on his face, and slam back some extra strong coffee before they went too far. They should sit down and have a conversation about their physical relationship before things get out of hand.

But it was cold outside of the bed, and Pink was warm next to him and smelled like lucious, sweet roses and he was kissing Steven’s neck, and-

Steven pushed the fabric of Pink’s hoodie up out of the way and settled the palm of his hand against the crystal surface of his gem. Pink gasped softly as Steven felt the gemstone warm at his touch.

He couldn’t push Pink away now, not when he was looking at Steven with his bright eyes and curling up closer to him as he tangled their legs together. Besides, he could feel that Pink was comfortable and _happy_ with him. He could feel the warmth of Pink’s trust in him too.  
  
But they needed to talk about this-

“Later.” Pink murmured into his ear just before gently nipping at the shell of it. 

Steven’s fingers lightly pet the facets of Pink’s gem, pleasure fissuring through it. The breath hitched in his chest when Steven pressed harder, making Pink see sparks of light in his vision. 

Pink’s fingers clenched in the material of Steven’s shirt as he gave a whine, trying to muffle the sound into Steven’s shoulder. 

Steven kissed his forehead while Pink continued to moan and tremble under his hand. He shivered at Steven’s touches, wanting more of them. Steven found he enjoyed the cute sounds Pink made as he gently traced the edges of his gem. It gave him a heady sort of feeling and when he leaned down to kiss Pink, the gem eagerly kissed him back, his own hand sliding up inside the front of Steven’s shirt to feel the smooth skin of his chest. 

“Steven! Are you up?!” Rose’s cheerful voice called up the stairs.

Pink and Steven both froze immediately.

There were footsteps coming up the staircase and wordless, Pink shot up and darted under the bed to hide. Pink hadn’t been as worried when Pearl had found out he’d been sleeping in Steven’s room, but Rose Quartz was _different_. 

Steven composed himself and cleared his throat, “Um, yeah?”

His mom opened his bedroom door smiling, “Your dad sent you another postcard!”

“O-Oh! That’s great!” He said, getting out of bed and reaching out for it.

She tilted her head, her face growing concerned. “Honey? Are you okay?”

“Uh, yes? Why?”

Rose reached out and touched his face, “Your face is all red and it’s really warm _._ Do you have a fever? Should I heal you?”

“Oh, no! I was just, you know, doing some exercises and stuff. Training.”

His mother raised an eyebrow at him before her eyes scanned him up and down.  
  
“Training? In your _pajamas_?”

“Y-Yup, sure was.” He nodded “It’s a new morning routine.”

Technically, that probably wasn’t a lie, he thought.

His mom looked unconvinced, but didn’t press the issue. “Well, the gems and I are going to be gone for a while. We were checking the observation orb earlier and I think we saw Jasper on Mask Island, so we’re going to check. We’ll be back in time for movie night if we don’t find her. I’m going to have Amethyst, Spinel, and Peridot stay here with you though. ”

Steven nodded, “Okay, be safe.”

Rose smiled and cupped his face before she handed him his dad’s postcard. “You too, hon’.”

Steven shut the door behind him after she left, leaning against it. Pink peaked out from under the bed at him now that they were alone again.   
  
Pink gave a little huff. “You _seriously_ need to get a lock for your door,” he hissed.  
  
Seeing Pink’s flushed face, his messed up hair, the fact that they were almost caught- Steven couldn’t help but start snickering, struggling and failing to keep his giggles quiet. 

Pink’s eyes were bright when he slid out from under the bed and walked over to him, hugging his arms around Steven. Steven leaned down and muffled his laughter into Pink’s shoulder as he hugged him back.

How was this his life, now?  
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Once they’d both composed themselves, they went downstairs for breakfast. Steven made french toast that was so fluffy Pink was almost convinced they were made from clouds. 

Amethyst was groaning on the couch afterwards, having eaten several helpings of the delicious fried, eggy bread with maple syrup. “Steve-o, you should open a restaurant.”

Steven laughed as he settled down on the couch next to her, “We did that when I was younger, remember? I almost put Mr. Kofi and Mr. Fryman out of business.”

She guffawed, “Right, right. They _begged_ you to close. Those two have no shame.”

They stayed on the couch after they had finished eating, Pink leaning against Steven’s shoulder while Steven was ordering some new parts for his truck with his tablet.

Peridot sat on the adjacent couch and was fiddling with the cube she’d gotten from Hessonite’s ship.

“Any luck with that thing?” Steven asked.

Peridot huffed. “Negative. It has an unusually strong encryption code.”

Amethyst watched Peridot fuss with it, “Why would it be all janked up like that?”

Peridot glared at the cube, “In the event it needed to be unlocked, I suspect it was programmed so only specific elite Homeworld gems could open it.” She sighed. “I’ve never seen this complicated of an encryption before though. 

Steven raised his eyebrows, “That seems extreme.”

Peridot looked up at Steven, her eyes anxious. “That means there may have been more to her mission than what we previously assumed. She must have been here for another reason aside from needing to take Jasper back.”

Amethyst sat up, “Like…. _what_?”

Peridot stared back down at the cube, a nervous expression crossing her face. 

“I don’t know.” She admitted. 

There was a heaviness in the room as the four of them were brought back to the realization that Homeworld was a very real threat that posed an uncertain danger towards all of them. 

Pink didn’t know how things would play out in this world. There were too many variables compared to his old world, all he could do was try to anticipate what would happen next so he could protect Steven from it. He struggled to understand this particular timeline. It was almost as if most of the same things were happening...but while Steven was older. Things that had happened when his better half was twelve in his old world were happening while Steven was eighteen in this one. 

Why the slight timeline difference? 

Before he could ponder it further, the tense mood was broken when the temple door glowed and Spinel walked out of her room, practically bouncing as she did so. She gasped when she saw Pink sitting on the couch and smiled. 

“Pink! Wanna play a game with me?!” 

Pink frowned at her and shook his head.

“Awww why not?” Spinel asked, shoes squeaking as she walked over to him. 

He gave her an incredulous look, did she not notice he was practically glued to Steven’s side or was she just _that_ oblivious? He’d been here well over a week by now and he’d made it clear as possible he had no interest in her. Pink curled his arms around Steven’s waist as a clear signal he had no interest in her. 

“We can play any game you want!” Spinel said with a beam.

Pink stubbornly leaned away from her and fought the urge to summon his shield when she stepped closer again. 

“I know a game we could play.” Amethyst interjected with a grin. 

Spinel’s head swiveled over to her, her eyes were momentarily surprised, as though she’d forgotten Amethyst was even there. 

“A game?” Spinel asked once she’d processed what Amethyst said. “What game?”

Amethyst smirked at Steven, “We have to take turns hiding Steven somewhere. Pink has to find him, whichever of us hides Steven better and makes Pink take longer, wins.”

Steven raised his eyebrow, “You _literally_ just made that up.”

“So? It’s hilarious.” Amethyst replied shamelessly with a shrug. 

“Couldn’t we just play _normal_ hide-and-seek?” Steven asked. 

“No. Pink will just hide wherever you go, and Spinel will probably just try to hide near him too. It’d be dumb.” 

Neither Pink or Spinel argued her point. 

“Fair enough.” Steven replied. 

Peridot tapped her chin, “A game is an engaging activity that incorporates teamwork, camaraderie, and competition, correct?”

“Yeah,” Steven said, answering her. “I forget you’ve only played tag with us before.”

Peridot nodded, “I will participate, I should learn more about earth culture.”

Amethyst smiled at Pink, “How ‘bout you Pinkster?”

At Pink’s hesitation, Steven encouraged him saying, “It _could_ be fun.” 

Pink didn’t like the idea of Steven being taken and hidden from him, but he understood it was just supposed to be a harmless game. Maybe if he did this, it would placate Spinel for a while and give him a reprieve from her bizarre fixation with him. 

Still, he wasn’t sure until he came up with an idea. He glanced over at Steven. 

_When I find you, can I get a prize?_

“I mean, sure you can have a prize for finding me.”

_Can it be a kiss?_ Pink asked through their bond. 

Steven flushed a little. “Oh, sure.”

“What does he want?” Amethyst asked.

Steven floundered, too shy to admit the truth. “Um, a sticker. I have some sparkly ones upstairs.”

“Yeah I _bet_ he wants your stickers.” She said with a knowing smirk. 

Spinel who was oblivious, tilted her head. “What do we get if we win?”

“How about I cook your favorite food for dinner?” Steven asked. “Or we can get take out from your favorite restaurant tomorrow?”

“I don’t eat food though.” Peridot replied. 

“Oh! Right, let’s see. Maybe you can pick out something from the hardware store and I’ll buy it for you?”

Peridot’s eyes grew comically wide. “ _Really?_ ”

“Within _reason_.” Steven quickly added, recalling the way she’d drooled over some of the more pricey rechargeable power tools last time they went. He wouldn't mind getting her those for the holidays, but not for winning a game of hide-and-seek. 

“Very well, I agree.” She said excitedly. 

“Sweet!” Amethyst crowed, and grabbed Steven’s hand “I get to go first since it was my idea. You guys go outside and wait, I get a minute to hide him!”

Once the other three gems were outside and Amethyst was satisfied they weren’t peeking through the blinds, she led him upstairs to his room.

“Okay, you can’t give any hints and you gotta be quiet.” Amethyst said as she opened his closet door.

“The _closet_? Not super original, Ames.” Steven teased. 

“Eh, it’s fine. I don’t care if I lose and I wanna make the first round easy on Pink.” She said, nudging him inside. “Try to get in the back, though.”

Steven settled on the floor of his closet. “You’re usually more competitive.”

She sighed “I know, maybe I’m getting more mature?”

There was a pause before they both laughed.

“Okay okay. Remember, _no_ cheating!” Amethyst said before closing the door behind her. 

Steven instantly grew tense when he realized how dark it was inside the small space even though it was daylight outside. Feeling anxious, he took his phone out of his pocket and turned the flashlight on. He breathed out, feeling better instantly as the bright light lit up the closet. 

He leaned against the wall and wondered how long it would take for Pink to find him. 

After a few minutes, Steven could feel Pink’s frustration over their shared connection as Pink looked for him.

Steven realized this was a good chance to test the bond between them.

It was something that Steven didn’t quite understand. His hypothesis was that the link they shared had something to do with Pink’s trust in him, maybe Pink’s powers allowed him to bestow empathic, telepathic abilities onto someone of his choosing? 

As Pink searched, Steven realized Pink could sense him, but he couldn’t pinpoint where Steven was exactly. He tried to equate it with smelling a fragrance in the air but not being able to find the source.

_Steven._

He twitched when he felt Pink’s voice in his mind. Steven had wrongfully assumed Pink could only do that if they were close to each other. 

He felt another small prickle of frustration from Pink. 

Steven leaned back. Steven couldn’t talk to him with his mind, he was just a human.   
  
Well, there wasn’t a harm in trying, right?

He tried to say Pink’s name in his mind but the gem didn’t respond. 

Hmm. That was a no go then. He couldn’t project his thoughts like Pink could, and Pink couldn’t read his mind. And Steven could only hear what Pink _wanted_ him to hear. But sometimes, Pink slipped up and Steven heard things that Pink didn’t mean him to. 

Steven bit his lip in thought.

Okay. The telepathy was one way, but emotions were a two way connection. 

Pink could also see Steven’s dreams, though. He’d told Steven about how he’d seen an image of Jasper when Steven had been having that nightmare. 

...Images. Could Pink see _images_ in his mind then? Did it only work if it was a dream? Or was it possible if Steven was awake?

He was jerked from his thoughts when Pink opened the closet door. 

“Oh! Good job, you found me!”

He smiled up at Pink who pounced on him and pressed their foreheads together. 

_Steven, kiss._ Pink insisted.

Steven laughed, “Don’t worry I didn’t forget.”

Steven leaned up and pressed a kiss between the quartz shaped horns on his forehead. 

Pink picked him up and Steven laughed when he was thrown over Pink’s shoulder like a sack of flour, “Hey!” 

Pink cheerfully hopped down the stairs, and went outside where the other gems were waiting and Amethyst hit the timer button on her phone. “Okay, not bad. About 6 minutes. Try to beat that, Peridot.” 

Pink waited outside the house with Spinel and Amethyst. Grateful that he wasn’t alone with Spinel. Of the gems, Amethyst was probably the one he was more comfortable around. Peridot was a close second because she didn’t really pay much attention to him now that she was confident he wasn’t dangerous. 

“He likes you a lot.” Amethyst said.

Pink blinked and looked over at her.

Amethyst was giving him a look he didn’t understand. “Steven likes you a lot. I’ve never seen him so wrapped up with someone before. Well, not since- nevermind. You know what he’s like. He’s normally pretty happy and stuff but this is different.” She thought. “He hasn’t let himself be with anyone but us in a long time.”

Pink nodded to show he was listening. 

“Rose was worried for a while about him.” She shrugged though. “I don’t know. You’re weird, there’s no way around it. But I can tell he likes you. A lot.”

Pink smiled, warming at Amethyst’s words. He wanted Steven to be happy around him. That was all he wanted, really.

Amethyst laughed, “Seriously, dude? I tell you Steven likes you and you start blushing? You got it bad, too.”

That was fine with Pink. He didn’t care if he was obvious with how his human made him feel. He wasn’t ashamed of loving Steven.

Inside the house, Peridot had just finished hiding Steven in the bathtub.

“I’m hilarious!” She exclaimed, “They’ll never think to look for you here!”

Steven nodded, humoring her, “Yeah, it’s a good spot Peridot.” 

“Because being in a bathtub if you aren’t bathing is just ridiculous! Just, completely illogical!” Peridot giggled as she closed the shower curtain. 

Steven smiled as she left the room and leaned back against the back of the bathtub in thought, picking up his earlier musing back up from where he left them.

It would be interesting to see how this connection between him and Pink worked. Emotions appeared to be the crux of it. He’d felt all of Pink’s emotions in the time they’d known each other, and Pink had verified he’d felt all of Steven’s. 

He startled when he felt a drop of cold water from the leaking bath faucet drop on his bare foot. 

And across their bond, he felt a prickle of surprise from Pink.

He must be reacting to Steven’s surprise, unless...

...had he felt that?

That wasn’t possible though, right?

Steven quietly sat up and put his palm under the faucet. He concentrated, focusing as he watched a bead of water build up at the spout. He tried to put all his attention onto his hand as a drop of water fell onto it, cold and wet. 

He knew for sure Pink had felt it this time because he felt Pink’s surprise and clearly heard Pink’s thoughts in his mind, 

_Steven, are you somewhere with_ **_water_ ** _?_

Steven kept his hand under the faucet, keeping his attention centered on the sensation of the water drops falling into his cupped palm until they spilled over his hand onto the floor of the bathtub. He made a mental note to get the faucet fixed so it didn’t leak so much in the future. 

He heard the light pad of footsteps he recognized by now and then the shower curtain was pulled aside to reveal Pink, his eyes wide with surprise as he realized what Steven was doing. 

“Pink- Did you. Um, I was just trying something. Did it work?”

Pink kneeled down, and held up his hand to show Steven.

Steven didn’t see anything, but when he touched the palm of Pink’s hand, it was cold as his was. 

Steven sucked in a sharp gasp.

“That’s-that’s not, that _shouldn’t_ be possible.”

Pink was also at a loss.

_How did you do it?_

Steven shrugged helplessly. “I...I don’t know. I just-” he gestured at the leaky faucet. “I just put my hand under there and, I guess I just tried to focus on what it _felt_ like?”

Pink bit on his lower lip thoughtfully. _Do you think you could try it again when Spinel hides you?_

Steven nodded, still dumbfounded his clumsy idea had even _worked_. 

“I could try, sure.”

Pink nodded _Okay._ He leaned forward, _Kiss?_

Steven snorted, “I love that we’re somehow managing to violate the known laws of science and you want a _kiss_ . You’ve got the one trackiest mind I’ve ever _met_.”

Pink leaned over to pick Steven up out of the bathtub and into his arms. _Kiss, please?_

Steven gave an amused huff but nonetheless kissed Pink on the cheek. 

It was Spinel’s turn next, and after Amethyst had written down Peridot’s time, they once again waited outside so she could hide Steven.

Spinel met back up with them once she was done and smiled at Pink.  
  
“Hey Pink, how about we play a game?” Spinel asked him.

He gave her a confused look. What was she talking about? They were playing one already.

Amethyst must have been thinking the same thing, “Um. We are. He’s looking for Steven, remember?”  
  
Spinel gave her a blank look before smiling, “Oh, right! Of course!”

That was weird. 

Amethyst also gave her a perplexed look but otherwise didn’t comment. 

After that odd exchange, Pink began searching the house, relieved this was the last round of it. He admitted this hadn’t been as bad as he thought it would be, and was intrigued with the new ability Steven had discovered. They would need to experiment with it more later.

While he was looking for Steven, Spinel followed him and endlessly prattled on to him. It was annoying to start with but to make matters worse she kept trying to _touch_ him.

Pink had observed the gems when they spent time together, and had seen how physically tactile they could be with each other. Pink was happy Steven had grown up in a home with such an affectionate family, but Pink wasn’t interested in such attention unless it came from Steven.

As such, he dodged her hands until, out of patience, he gave her a pointed glare as he breathed out in irritation. Why was she even _here_? She was supposed to be waiting with Amethyst and Peridot while he looked.

Spinel pouted, “I just wanna hold your hand Pink.”

He shook his head at her, and hoped that would be the end of it.

Pink was also hoping to end this game. He’d checked nearly every hiding spot he could think of and he still hadn’t found Steven. 

What was maddening is that Pink could _feel_ his presence. He knew he was here, somewhere. 

_Steven, I can’t find you._

He tried to reach out across their connection.

Steven was calm, wherever he was. 

Pink huffed. He wished this bond of theirs worked like a locater. He could sense Steven was in the area but not _where_. 

_Try to focus on something again, like what you did earlier._

He felt a small nidge of frustration from Steven and Pink belatedly realized he had probably been breaking his human’s concentration. 

_Sorry._ _  
_

He stopped walking around and stood still, trying to see if he could feel anything again.

Spinel frowned when he stopped moving. “Whatcha doin’?”

He ignored her and closed his eyes, trying to focus on Steven.

Pink suddenly smelled salt water, and a cool breeze brushed against his face.  
  
 _Steven, you’re outside?_

“Pink?” Spinel asked in confusion. “What is it?”

Pink turned away from Spinel and walked back outside where Amethyst was leaning against the railing next to Peridot. “Hey- Oh, you haven’t found him yet?”

Pink looked over the railing down at the beach, but didn’t see any sign of him. He walked back into the house in confusion. 

_Steven, where are you? Can you do it again?_

Again, he felt the cool breeze on his face, and the scent of saltwater in the air, but this time a chill traveled down his arms and made him shiver. 

That made Pink concerned.

_You’re cold? Are you alright?_

Amethyst and Peridot walked back into the house after them. 

Amethyst frowned, noticing the worry on Pink’s face. 

“Okay Spinel, ya beat Peridot and me. It’s taking Pink _way_ longer to find where you hid Steven than when we did it. So tell us where you put him.”

Spinel giggled, “Noooo, that’s cheating.”

Pink gave her a venomous look but she only smiled at him cheerfully, unfazed by the burn of his gaze. 

Again, he felt a chill rush over his skin. Maybe he was being paranoid, but a deep, visceral part of himself didn’t trust Spinel.

Steven grew up with her, she wouldn't have _hurt_ him right?

No, Steven was calm, he was fine. Pink could feel that as he reached out. He’d known when Steven was in distress when he’d been having a nightmare, he’d be able to tell if something was wrong.

Amethyst groaned. “Spinel, c’mon. You won! Just tell us where Steven is.”

Spinel actually stomped her foot as she pouted. “No! That’s not how the game works! That would be breaking the rules!”

“It’s just a stupid game, what’s your _problem_?” Amethyst argued back. 

Pink startled when he felt a wave of comfort radiate into him, warm and soft. 

_Steven?_

The warmth spread across him and he felt himself relax. 

Steven must have done that because he could feel Pink’s growing anxiety. 

Pink sighed. Okay, he was being ridiculous. Steven was obviously _fine_. 

There had been a breeze on his face and it was chilly. Steven was somewhere outside, but not on the beach. But he’d smelled saltwater in the air which meant he wasn’t far- 

Oh.

Feeling stupid for not figuring out sooner, Pink walked past the others over to the warp pad and stepped on it, warping him onto Obsidian’s stone hand where the laundry machines were. 

Steven was sitting on top of the washer and gave Pink a sympathetic smile that completely melted away the rest of Pink’s worries.  
  
“Hey, you okay?” Steven asked.

Pink nodded as he stepped off the warp pad and instantly wrapped his arms around Steven as soon as he was close enough, finally feeling himself calm down. Steven’s arms went around his shoulders, and his fingers brushed through Pink’s hair.

“I didn’t like this game very much.” Pink said with a sulky voice, “I don’t like you being hidden from me.”  
  
“I felt how worried you were, I wanted to warp back into the house but um, I can’t without a gem helping me. Human and all.” Steven continued to stroke his hair, “But that’s okay, we don’t have to play it again if you didn’t like it. But I’m proud you tried it at least though.” 

Pink frowned at the thought Steven had tried to come back to him but hadn’t been able to--how did he use the warp pads without the gems?

Hearing his thoughts, Steven answered “Oh, I have a whistle that I normally use if the gems aren’t around but I didn’t think I’d be needing it so it’s in my room.”

Pink squeezed him and Steven sighed as he leaned into him, “Mmm, you’re so nice and warm.”

Steven’s skin felt cool to the touch from sitting out in the ocean breeze. Pink knew he was fine, that he was safe and nothing was wrong. But he didn’t like that Steven had been uncomfortable. 

Steven laughed, “ _Pink._ Sitting outside for a few minutes isn’t going to be the end of me, I’m not that delicate. Yes, I’m a little chilly because of how breezy it is up here and it’s autumn but I promise I’m _fine_.”

_I don’t like you not feeling good._

Steven pulled him closer and smiled, “Well, I feel good right _now_.” 

Pink looked up at him and Steven leaned down to kiss him before Pink had to ask.

Steven was right, he was okay. It had literally just been a silly game, and Pink shouldn’t have worried so much, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t like Steven being out of his sight for long, or far enough away that Pink couldn’t touch him when he wanted to. 

Pink warped back into the house still holding Steven.

“Oh good, you found him.” Amethyst said. 

“Yeah, he got me.” Steven said from Pink’s arms. 

Spinel walked over, “Wait! So I won right?”

“Oh, yeah you did! Great job Spinel. You like spaghetti, is that what you want me to make tomorrow?”

Pink didn’t wait for her answer and trekked up the stairs with Steven. He was annoyed with Spinel, but that was nothing new. Also, he’d had enough of socializing with the others and just wanted Steven to himself for a while--especially if he was going to be surrounded by all of them later for “movie night”. 

Pink closed the bedroom door with the heel of his foot and lofted up into the bed with Steven.

“You going to let me walk on my own sometime today?” Steven teased with a laugh.

“No.” Pink replied and rubbed his hands over Steven’s cheeks, which were still cold from the ocean breeze. 

Steven smiled, “That was pretty cool. That we could do that when we’re apart.”  
  
He pushed his face into Steven’s chest. “It is. But I like it better when we’re together.”

Pink wondered at their new found ability. Was the connection between them growing stronger? It seemed like it was. 

Steven ran a hand down his back. “I know something that we could do together that would be fun.”

“What is it?” Pink asked. 

“Wanna go up to the lighthouse?” 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

  
“What do you think of the lamp being _behind_ the couch?” Steven asked as he tilted his head to the side. “That way we get some light when we read and stuff?  
  
Pink stood next to Steven in the lighthouse, staring at the sitting area next to him. They’d been up here for the past few hours rearranging furniture and putting away the things they’d gotten from the barn. Steven had been working most of the days since the fight with Hessonite so they hadn’t had much time but today Steven didn’t have to work and they’d had plenty of time to finish it.

_That sounds good._ Pink agreed.

Steven nodded, “Okay, I’m gonna move it. Do you mind getting the rug?”

“Of course.” He replied as he let go of Steven’s hand to get the rolled up rug that was resting against the wall. 

Steven had ordered some interior decorations online, like a poster of his birth constellation and a new blue rug that complimented the soft green of the couch. He’d also carefully cleaned the starry quilt Pink had found at the barn and folded it over the back of the couch. 

Steven picked up the standing moon lamp, carefully placing it between the sofa and the wall before he plugged it into one of the outlets. Luckily his dad and Bismuth had renovated the lighthouse to have updated electrical wiring. 

Pink unrolled the blue rug, spreading it in front of the couch and moved the coffee table back into its place on top of the rug. The coffee table looked bare so Pink took the moon puzzle box and put it on top of it along with a few of the cooking magazines Steven liked. 

Steven walked from behind the couch with a smile as he dusted his hands off against his jeans, “Like how it’s coming along?”

Pink looked around the room of the lighthouse and it was certainly more cozy than it was before. Steven had bought some nice house plants and there was a small bookshelf with comics, magazines, and lovingly worn paperbacks. The lamp Steven had ordered cast a warm glow in the room. 

“It’s really nice.” Pink replied as he walked back over to Steven, wanting to be close again. It was a comfortable space to spend time in, even if he never planned on staying in here without his human. 

“It was fun to put together.” Steven said as he held his arms out invitingly so Pink could hug him like Steven knew he wanted to. Pink didn’t resist, happy to wind his arms around Steven’s waist.

“So, we have a while before we have movie night with my family...wanna hang up here?”

Pink nodded, willing to go anywhere Steven wanted. But the lighthouse was nice because apparently the gems never came up here. Steven had explained earlier that the gems respected it as his personal space when he wanted to be alone. Selfishly, Pink wished they could be alone more often. 

Steven picked one of the recipe magazines from the coffee table before he relaxed back on the couch and Pink climbed onto it next to him.

“Maybe I’ll make something new for next week.” Steven said as he thumbed through one. “Here’s a good one, carbonara might be fun. I haven’t made that before, it doesn’t sound too hard either.”

_Carbonara?_ Pink asked and Steven showed him the photo of the dish from the magazine. 

“Pasta with eggs, cream, bacon, and parmesan poured onto it and mixed while the noodles are still hot so it’s a gooey, delicious mess. Dad took me to a restaurant in Empire City that had it once, it was amazing.”

“Sounds like breakfast pasta.” Pink replied with a smile. 

Steven laughed, “It does, doesn’t it? Let’s see,” he read through some other recipes and Pink enjoyed listening to the sound of Steven’s voice. 

After a thought, Pink laid down, letting his head rest in Steven’s lap. 

“Sleepy?” Steven asked.

_No, not really._ But this was nice. He curled an arm under Steven’s legs so he could hold him.  
  
Pink felt nothing but bliss as Steven’s fingers gently combed through his hair. 

It was honestly a miracle that Pink was even able to be here like this with Steven at all. He’d suffered for ten years in agony and loss, but it felt so much longer than that. Now, every day felt more and more like a gift, because it was one more day that he’d had with Steven. Pink swore to himself to never take even small moments like these for granted, and to treasure every single one. 

He sealed this moment in his mind; of them relaxing alone together like this on a lazy afternoon with the sound of the ocean under them. 

Pink sighed when he felt Steven’s hand stroked over his gem and he warmed at the contact, turning his body more into Steven’s touch like a cat would when insisting on being pet. 

Steven paused and seemed to realize what he was doing, “Oh gosh. I did that again.”

Pink tilted his head, still fuzzy from the feeling of Steven’s hand on him. “What do you mean?”

“Your gem I- I didn’t even realize I was touching you there. That happened this morning, too.”

Pink wondered at that. Did Steven unconsciously seek out Pink’s gem because he could feel it was his?

He pulled Steven’s hand back down over his gem, the warmth of his palm soothing. “I like it, though. It feels nice.”

When Steven’s hand was just resting against it, it didn’t elicit that spark of exciting pleasure. It just felt comforting. The heat of Steven’s hand seemed to saturate the gemstone, and he could almost feel his pulse gently beat over the facets. 

Steven relaxed, letting his hand rest over Pink’s stomach where he could feel the gem beneath the fabric of the hoodie Steven had given him. 

He could feel Pink’s comfort--so he wasn’t just saying what he said for the sake of Steven’s feelings. He put the magazine down so he could still pet through Pink’s hair with his other hand while the left rested on his gem. 

A low buzzing sound from the coffee table alerted him, “Pink can you grab my phone that’s right there?

Pink nodded reaching over to pick it up off the table where Steven had left it. 

“What’s it say?” Steven asked.

Pink felt a small ball of dread in his stomach, “Your family says they’ll be coming back in a few hours for movie night. They couldn’t find Jasper.”

“Okay, good. Well- Not good they couldn’t find Jasper but I’m glad they’re taking a break to come back.” 

Pink nodded, and handed Steven the phone so he could text back a quick reply. 

Steven put the phone down on the arm of the couch and frowned a little when he could feel Pink’s anxiety. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“...Nothing.” Pink replied in a mumble. 

Steven tapped on one of his horns. “C’mon, maybe I can help?”

Pink didn’t know how to explain that the thought of prolonged contact with Steven’s family made him nervous. Amethyst and Peridot were actually alright, and even Bismuth. The warrior gem was impressed with Pink’s handling of Hessonite and had pretty much accepted him into their ranks. He could handle Pearl and Garnet well enough but it was Rose Quartz and Spinel who really kept him on edge. 

“Is this about tonight? It’s going to be fun, don’t worry.” Steven reassured.

Pink turned over so his face was hiding into Steven’s middle and gave a huff as his response.

Steven smiled at his antics, maybe he shouldn’t think Pink’s sulking was cute--but he couldn’t help it. “Hey, c’mon. They’re really warming up to you. It’ll be chill, okay?”

He could tell Pink wasn’t convinced, which was understandable. Pink was very shy, uncomfortable with any kind of prolonged attention from anyone except Steven it seemed like. He still wouldn’t verbally speak with them, Steven absently wondered if he ever would. 

“You know, if you want, you can stay in my room instead? You could play a game or-”

Pink shook his head, his arms going around Steven’s middle. “No, I want to be with you.”

“Okay, I know you’re hanging out with my family a lot today. First this morning with the game and now with movie night. How about after work tomorrow we hang out, just the two of us? We could go out to the beach or up here, sound good?”

Pink turned to peek up at him. “...Promise?”

Steven nodded, ruffling his hair. “Promise.”  
  
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Later, Pink watched Steven punch in the numbers for the microwave’s timer, and hovered next to his elbow while the kernels popped.

The appliance cheerfully beeped when it finished and Pink poured it into a bowl.

After, he dutifully followed Steven down the hallway, glad to do whatever task Steven asked of him so he could stay busy instead of fretting.  
  
Pink was unsure of how this was going to work. Admittedly, he was hesitant about spending a few hours surrounded by Steven’s family. 

Especially Rose Quartz who made him uncomfortable, and Spinel who just downright made him anxious.  
  
True, he’d spent a few mornings with all of them during breakfast, but that was different. He was usually underfoot of Steven, helping him cook so he didn’t have to pay attention to them. 

“Don’t worry.” Steven said easily as he grabbed some large throw pillows out of the hall closet and handed pink. “It’s very chill. We just watch a movie or two together, that's all. If it starts getting tense, I’ll instigate a popcorn fight.”

_Popcorn fight?_

“Yeah. I’ll start flicking popcorn at Amethyst, and then she’ll do it back, and then everyone just kinda gets involved and then we have to vacuum it up the next day. We try to do it at the end though so we don’t waste too much.” 

Pink nodded, still slightly hesitant at the idea, but he trusted Steven. 

Steven smiled and kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry, you’ll be with me the whole time, ‘kay?”

Pink smiled back, _‘Kay._

The gems were already in their chosen spots in the living room, happily chatting with each other. 

“Hey Pink, excited for your first movie night?” Bismuth asked with a jovial grin from her spot on the couch next to Pearl. 

Pink nodded at her as he quickly sat next to Steven on a floor cushion. Bismuth gave him an amused look before turning to snag a handful of popcorn from one of the several bowls around the room. 

Steven had a baseball hat that each had their names on a piece of paper and unfolded the one he pulled out. “Amethyst. You get first pick of the night.”

Amethyst shot up from her spot in the easy chair, “Oh, man. I’ve got the best movie ever ready for this!”

She went over to the shelf and pulled out the dvd she wanted and proudly brandished it to the others.

Steven recognized the image of a black dragon on the cover with a brown haired boy.

He grabbed a piece of popcorn and tossed it at Amethyst’s face. “You are not funny as you think you are.”

She snickered. “Aww, c’mon. It’s _so_ good though!” 

“I don’t understand why you’re upset, Steven.” Pearl said. “You love _How to Train Your Dragon_. It’s one of your favorites.”

“A _nd_ the two sequels.” Garnet added with an adjustment of her glasses.

“Yeah Steven.” Amethyst said while batting her eyes innocently. “You _love_ this movie, right? So what’s the problem? You should be thanking me for picking out your _favorite movie_.”

Steven rolled his eyes at Amethyst but Pink tugged his sleeve. 

_It’s your favorite? I want to watch it, I’ve never heard of that movie._

Steven flushed, “Fine.”

Victorious, Amethyst put the dvd in the player before flouncing back to her seat with a grin.  
  
After a few minutes into the movie, Pink understood why Steven had originally protested it and that Amethyst’s joking was at his own expense, but he couldn’t bother being annoyed about that. 

It was a cute film though, and when he glanced over at Steven, he could tell his human genuinely liked it a lot from the way his eyes stayed captivated on the screen. Pink leaned into his side, happy when Steven put a warm arm around him. 

The others seemed to be similarly transfixed, most of them eating popcorn as they watched the story unfold. Even Peridot was watching, every so often asking Amethyst questions. He could tell Steven’s family was happy to take a brief reprieve from hunting for Jasper everyday. 

He felt eyes on him and looked over, expecting to meet Rose or perhaps Pearl’s eyes from across the room but instead was alarmed to see Spinel staring at him with owlishly large eyes from her perch on one of the armchairs.

Pink didn’t understand why she was so curious about him, but it grated his nerves to no end. He hated how much Spinel stared at him and how she kept trying to touch him when they were alone. He should really act nicer to her, and try to get into the gems' good graces but he couldn’t dissociate the negative feelings that he had for the Spinel in his old world from this one. He stubbornly turned away from her and curled more around Steven, knowing he was acting like a petulant toddler but couldn’t bring himself to care.

Pink felt Steven gently tug on his arm, and he followed the direction as he guided Pink to sit in between his legs with his back against Steven’s chest. Steven’s arms wrapped around his middle and Pink felt better. 

He had expected strange looks from the other gems, but they didn’t seem to take notice.

That was good, because Pink wasn’t about to stop Steven, especially not when he felt his human’s hand absently start combing through his hair. 

In the dark of the room, safely ensconced in Steven’s arms, Pink was able to ignore Spinel and refocus his attention on the film. 

The plot of the movie was fairly straightforward. The main character was a boy from a village which was constantly in turmoil because of their ongoing war with the dragons. However, the boy in the movie ends up meeting a dragon, and though the two are very different, they become close friends. 

Pink could see some parallels between the characters in the movie and him and Steven. He had a hunch Amethyst had likely chosen the movie for that reason as a way to tease them. But overall it was cute, and Pink understood why it was one of Steven’s favorites. 

As he watched it, a particular subplot of the movie resonated strongly with him. The boy hides his friendship with the dragon from his family, knowing his village would never understand or approve. It goes on for weeks, and when the boy’s father does find out, He’s angry and claims any trust in him is irreparably broken. 

It reminded Pink of _his_ own secrets, and the truth he kept from his human. At first, he couldn’t bear to tell Steven the truth simply because it was too painful and traumatic to even talk about. He had never wanted to lie to Steven, and he’d tried his best not to. But the guilt of it was starting to eat at him. 

He didn’t care so much about lying to the Crystal Gems. But Steven was who he lived for, the meaning of his existence. The idea of Steven growing angry at him for Pink’s dishonesty, enough so that he would cast him away chilled Pink to the core of his gem. 

He’d been with Steven a little over a week now, and he already couldn’t imagine living without him ever again. 

Pink nuzzled his face into Steven’s neck, inhaling his warm scent to reassure himself that Steven was right here with him. Steven shifted to rest his chin on Pink’s head, and squeezed his arms around him a little as if he knew he needed the extra dose of comfort.

He had to tell Steven the truth, and soon. It was what he deserved, Pink knew that. But he had no idea how to even start that conversation. 

_“So, I’m from another reality where you were brutally murdered! And the reason I’m corrupted is probably because I nearly went insane with grief over the trauma of your death! Oh and I shattered the gem who killed you, who in my world was Spinel which is why I hate her! My name’s not actually Pink Agate, to be honest I’ve never had a name. Also, if anything ever happened to you I would shatter the gem who killed you and then probably myself because I can never lose you like that again! Can we kiss some more now, please?”_

He doubted that would go over well. 

Pink watched the climax of the film, feeling as though he had a knot in his throat the entire time. It had a happy ending, and Pink hoped that his story with Steven would too. 

After the movie ended, Steven drew names again and it was Pearl’s turn. She chose a historical romance drama that Pink honestly didn’t pay much attention to, too busy mulling over what he should do about his secret and how to approach telling Steven. 

No matter how many times he turned it over in his head, he could only see Steven getting upset with him.

Angry at Pink for lying. Angry at him for the truth Pink would be forced to reveal about having Pink Diamond’s gemstone, even if he wasn’t her. Pink didn’t even know how he would start that conversation. Steven didn’t talk about the diamonds, and didn’t seem to burn with curiosity over them the same way Pink’s other half had when he was younger.

Pink broke from the dark, tangled thorns of his thoughts when Steven’s voice was right by his ear as he whispered, “Pink?” 

_I’m okay._

He could feel Steven’s doubt about that across their bond, but he didn’t press the issue. 

_I’ll talk about it later._ Pink forced out, not allowing himself to escape the inevitable conversation. 

That seemed to mollify Steven’s concern, even if it didn’t completely abate it.  
  
Steven could feel Pink’s dread, but he didn’t understand the source. He’d been fine earlier, but now it was suddenly like his mood had taken a turn. It was a dark, cold feeling that creeped up his arms into his chest, and he worried at Pink feeling this way, wanting to know why. 

Pink spent the rest of the second movie pressed tightly against him. 

Later, they called it a night and most of the gems made their way back to their rooms, though Rose stayed behind to talk with Steven. 

“We still haven’t found her.” Rose said with a sigh.

Steven smiled encouragingly, “It’s okay, you will.”

His mom nodded, though she seemed skeptical about it. She squeezed Steven’s shoulder and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before she retired to her own room past the temple door. 

Steven turned his attention back to Pink, who was still being reticent though his hand was clenched in the fabric of Steven’s shirt, holding it like a lifeline. 

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I think I’m ready for bed.”

Pink nodded, and Steven felt a surge of anxiety from the quiet gem. 

What was going on?

When they got back to his room, Steven decided to take a shower. He didn’t miss the way Pink immediately climbed into his bed covers before Steven had even closed the bathroom door. 

Steven wondered if it had been the movies, but why would it set off his mood like that? The first movie had some tough moments, sure. But ultimately it had a happy ending. The second one hadn’t had any violence or anything like that, it’d been a historical love story and also had a happy ending. It was towards the end when Pink’s mood had started to sink. Well, there had been that moment where in the first movie, the boy had almost died. Was that what had freaked Pink out? Maybe it had reminded him of his friend who had been shattered?

Steven felt terrible, if that was the case. For him it was just a cute movie he fell in love with when he was a kid, due to the story that revolved around friendship and the cool dragon designs. But maybe for Pink it had struck a chord and reminded him of his trauma? 

Wanting to comfort Pink, Steven quickly finished up his shower and changed into his sleep wear for the night.

Pink was huddled in the bed under the comforter, and Steven approached and hopped onto the bed without landing on Pink. 

He pulled up the bedding to peek at the curled up gem who was hiding underneath them.

“Hey, bud. You wanna come on out so we can talk? I can tell something is seriously bothering you.”

Pink shivered, “Steven-”

He could feel Pink’s dread, heavy and cold like lead in his stomach. “Hey, now. It can’t be all that bad, Pink.”

“It is.” He answered Steven miserably. 

“What do you mean?”

Pink bit his lip. “Um, I need to talk to you. It’s-” He clenched his fists, feeling the tips of his claws stabbing into the palm of his hand. “I, I should tell you something-” 

Steven tilted his head, his eyes roving across Pink’s form. “Oh, sure. But...are you okay?”

He asked that, but they both knew he could sense that Pink was definitely not ‘okay’. 

Pink nodded, feeling his eyes start to burn. Why was this so hard?

“I have to tell you about, about where I came from.”

Steven reached out and took Pink’s hands, gently uncurling his fingers from the fist they’d been tightly clenched into. Steven tugged him closer and Pink reluctantly unlocked himself from his balled up position. 

He felt himself tremble and he was furious with himself. Angry with his own cowardice. Angry that he was so _weak_ that he would rather continue to deny Steven the truth than admit it to him. Because he was scared. Scared that this would be the thing to finally break Steven’s endless patience with him. Scared that after telling him, Steven wouldn’t ever look at him with his dark, gentle eyes ever again. 

He felt a warm hand on his face, and a thumb stroking away tears he hadn’t realized he’d been crying. 

Steven was looking down at him with concern. “You say you want to tell me, but it really seems like you don’t.”

Pink shook his head, “No, I do. I have to.”

“Says who?” Steven asked. 

He blinked in confusion, “Because- because it’s wrong to lie to you.”

“Lie? What have you lied about?” Steven asked, pulling Pink closer to him. 

Pink didn’t know where to start. 

“Everything?” He said as he settled on the bed in front of Steven.

Steven raised his eyebrows. “Oh, _everything_? Well. Let’s talk about that.” He tilted his head. “Have you lied about us being friends?”

Pink stumbled over himself to correct the misunderstanding, “No! Not that, never- Of course we are!”

“Did you lie about wanting to _be_ with me?”

“ _No!_ ” Pink insisted. 

Steven’s hand cupped Pink’s cheek, “Well, see? Then it sounds like you haven’t lied about _everything_.” 

Pink flushed, because leave it to Steven to comfort him, even after Pink admitted to being a liar. Something his better half in his old world had abhorred more than almost anything.

“I still need to tell you, I have to.”

“Again, says _who_?” Steven asked. “I told you back when we first met, I wouldn’t ask you to tell me anything until you were ready.” He looked down at Pink’s trembling hands. “And this doesn’t look or feel ‘ready’ to me.”

Pink looked up at him, “But I- It’s not right. I shouldn’t hide things from you. You deserve to know.”

“I _deserve_ to know? _I_ don’t believe I do.” 

Steven framed Pink’s face with his hands. “Pink. _Everyone_ has a past, and it’s completely okay to not want to talk about it. Most of my family is that way. My own dad won’t talk about his parents -my grandparents- he’s never told me about them _ever_ . I’ve never tried to force him to either, because I know it’s painful for him and very _personal_.”

Pink struggled to reconcile what Steven was saying with his own nature. Steven was giving him permission not to tell him, but Pink’s instincts told him Steven should know the truth, whether Pink liked it or not.

“What if I told you there are things that _I_ don’t like to talk about? Because I don’t feel ready to talk about it, either? Would you be mad at me?”

Pink shook his head, “No!”  
  
“Okay, well that’s how I feel too,” Steven replied. “Pink, I meant what I said the first night we met. Of course I’d like to know you more than I already do. But not at the expense of yourself. And I would like to hear your story...but only when you’re absolutely ready to share it. _Not_ when I can feel your fear. On that subject, _why_ are you so _scared_?”

Pink fidgeted. _I’m scared that when I tell you, you’ll be angry._

His human looked thoughtful. “Does this have something to do with you actually not being a _pink agate_?”

At Pink’s surprised look, Steven smiled. “I’ve known _that_ since we met. Our weird bond thingy? I could tell you were lying when you said your name was Pink Agate when we first met.”

_Why didn’t you say anything?_

“Because.” Steven said, “I saw a scared gem who obviously needed a friend. A gem who must have been alone a long time, and was in a lot of pain. And I wanted to help you. And despite whoever you were in the past, if _Pink Agate_ is who you want to be now, that’s okay.”

Pink leaned into Steven’s touch. _That’s not the only reason I’m scared you’ll be angry._

Steven rubbed his thumbs over the back of Pink’s hands. “I care about who you are _now._ That doesn’t mean I don’t care, or that I don't wanna hear about your past. But I don’t want you being _terrified_ that I’m going to leave if you tell me you did something ‘bad’ in the past.”

Pink looked down. “But...what if you want to?”

“I won’t.” Steven replied. “I swear I won’t do that to you, Pink. Tell you what, I’ll make you a deal. The day that you _actually_ feel ready to share your secret with me...I’ll share mine too, okay? That way it’s _fair_.”

Pink looked down, still feeling guilty. Even if he was too scared to tell the entire truth, Steven still deserved to know the worst thing he’d done at least.

“It’s not _everything,”_ Pink mumbled as his eyes flicked up anxiously at Steven, “ I shattered someone.”

Steven didn’t react with anger or recoil in fear as Pink worried. In fact, he really didn’t seem very surprised.

“The gem you shattered, was it the one who killed your friend?” Steven asked gently. 

Pink nodded as tears burned his eyes, “ I know it was wrong but I just, I couldn’t-”

Steven pulled him into a hug, and Pink clung to him as tightly as he could without hurting his human. 

“I bet you were in so much pain, and so angry, you didn’t feel like you had any other choice.” Steven said as he hugged him.

Pink cried, his tears wetting the fabric on Steven’s shoulder, “Please let me stay,” he begged between hitching breathes, “all I want is to be with you.”

As long as Steven didn’t hate him, as long as he let Pink be with him it would be okay. Pink would do whatever he wanted as long as Steven didn’t push him out of his life. 

“I could _never_ hate you.” Steven insisted, squeezing him close. Steven didn’t think he was capable of hating Pink, and certainly not for avenging his friend. Steven assumed it must have happened during the Gem War, and he wouldn’t have been the first gem in his family to have done that.

Steven’s own mother had shattered Pink Diamond, and he still loved her and understood her reasoning for doing it. She’d had to make a difficult choice in a time of war, as all the gems in his family had. Not only that, but considering it had been a _war_ , Steven was fairly sure most of the gems in his family had shattered other gems even if they didn’t admit it. 

Pink’s face was blotchy from crying and Steven felt a pang of hurt for him. Was he really so terrified that Steven would reject him and push him away? He thought back to other times when Pink had just gone along with whatever Steven decided. True, he’d gotten better at voicing things he liked or disliked, but it was still a work in progress. Steven didn’t want Pink to constantly be in fear of making a mistake, worried Steven would abandon him.  
  
He kept Pink close to him as he repositioned them so they were laying down together. Steven gently tilted Pink’s face up so his wet eyes were looking up at him. 

“Pink, I swear I’m not going to ever hate you and force you to leave.”

The gem shook his head, “Steven, you can’t promise that you don’t know what-”

“Yes I can, and I just did.” He smiled, “And no ‘take backs’ are allowed in this family.” Steven kissed Pink’s tear streaked cheek, “So there.”

Pink gave him a watery smile back, “Okay.”  
  
It was strange to be able to promise something and know for a fact it was true. But it was, he could feel it resonate within himself. Not for the first time, Steven recognized how strange it was that his feelings for this gem were so sure and strong even though they hadn’t known each other that long. 

Steven wiped at Pink’s wet face with the hem of his shirt, “I want you to promise me something too, though.”

His gem nodded, “Anything, anything you want.”

“Don’t shatter anyone again. My family did it during the war, but they’ve put that behind them. You should too, okay?”

Pink recalled how he had sworn to himself to never let anyone (especially Jasper) hurt Steven again--but he supposed if anyone threatened his human he’d give them a beatdown before he imprisoned them in a bubble as he had with Hessonite. Steven had said no shattering, but he hadn’t said no fighting. 

He nodded, agreeing to Steven’s request. “Okay, I promise.”

“Good.” Steven smiled at him, and Pink quickly realized he’d do absolutely anything to see that smile every day of his existence.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

  
It had been about four weeks since Pink had found his human.

And every new thing that they shared, Pink took note of it like a milestone and preserved it in his memories. On nights he didn’t feel like sleeping, he’d take the moments out in his mind, and relive them. It was like he was turning them over in his hands, giving each memory reverential attention.  
  
The first time Steven smiled at him. The first time he heard Steven’s laugh. The first time Steven hugged him. Their first dance. The first time Steven kissed him. 

One afternoon, he added another new memory.

Steven was meticulous about keeping his weapons in proper shape. Even if he hadn’t been allowed to go on missions lately, he’d still take the time to practice with them in the sky arena or outside on the beach. 

“I don’t wanna get rusty.” Steven said after a practice session with Holo Pearl, wiping his forehead with the bottom of his shirt. 

Pink would have offered to spar with him, but he didn’t think he’d be able to attack Steven, even if it was just for practice. Pink would never forgive himself if he accidentally hurt his human.

But after training, Steven made it a point to clean and polish whatever weapon he’d used that day before putting it away.

After one such session, Steven was sitting at the table, polishing his broad sword with a cloth. Pink noted that around this time, Steven usually made himself a cup of tea. Nothing caffeinated, or he’d be up all night but he liked herbal teas, like strawberry or blueberry tea with honey in it. 

Pink was suddenly overcome with the urge to make it for him so he quietly took Steven’s favorite cup and after heating up some hot water from the kettle on the stove, he poured it over a sachet of strawberry tea. After it steeped long enough, he added a small teaspoon of honey the way he’d seen Steven do it probably a dozen times. 

He took a small sip to check, and it tasted sweet and flavorful like it should. 

Feeling proud, he walked over with it to Steven, being careful not to spill.

Steven was humming as he polished the blade of his sword.

_Steven, tea._ He said as he held the cup out to him. 

“Thanks, sweetheart.” Steven replied before putting the polishing cloth down to take offered tea. 

By the time Steven took a sip, Pink was blushing as he realized what Steven had called him.

His human was oblivious to Pink’s flustered state as he took another sip of the sweet tea, sighing appreciatively. “Mmm. S’perfect, love.”

Pink felt his cheeks heat up more at the additional term of endearment and Steven looked up at him curiously.

“Pink? You okay?”

Pink nodded. True, Steven had called him ‘bud’ before, so perhaps he shouldn’t be so over the moon about a silly affectionate nickname, but that wasn’t _nearly_ the same as these new cutesy names.

Either way, Pink welcomed every new aspect of their relationship, it was something that made his heart squeeze with joy, even if it was just a small thing as a nickname. 

Pink enjoyed it, the same way he enjoyed when Steven kissed him and held him close.

Likewise, Pink only seemed to grow bolder with his handsiness towards Steven.

Before he’d usually hover close to him, and accept any hug Steven gave graciously. If Steven touched him he eagerly would lean into it, happy to have any sort of attention. Now that he’d made his feelings known though, and Steven had accepted them, he didn’t hesitate to touch Steven at any given moment. 

He tried to keep himself in check around the gems, he’d been living with Steven for a few weeks now, and they were much more trusting of him but he didn’t want to push his luck. 

But when they were alone, he was nearly shameless. 

He’d press himself into Steven’s side and nuzzle his cheek, demanding attention like a cat. 

Steven was sweet and indulged him, never protesting the extra affection, even if he was in the middle of doing something else.

And now that he knew his human enjoyed it, kissing was something he tried to do often with him as well. 

He liked the closeness, the intimacy. He liked making Steven feel nice, and hearing the soft sounds he would give whenever Pink kissed his neck. It was admittedly becoming something addictive. Maybe because, like sleeping close together, it was something that Steven only allowed Pink to do with him. 

One day, they were alone in the music store when Pink pulled Steven into the employee’s room.

“What’s going on?” Steven asked curiously, but not protesting Pink tugging him by the hand. 

He showed Steven what he wanted when he leaned up and pulled Steven down to kiss him. 

Steven flushed, “Pink- I’m at _work_!”

Pink knew that, and he was annoyed. Steven wasn’t supposed to work today but Lars had begged Steven to cover for him, saying he and Sadie had some huge fight over the phone last night. He’d drowned his sorrow in alcohol and as such, was completely hung over. 

They should be in Steven’s room right now or at the lighthouse, where Pink would have had Steven all to himself but now they were here. Well, he wasn’t going to let that get in the way of kissing his human like he wanted.

Pink pushed Steven down onto the brown leather loveseat in the break room and climbed onto his lap, straddling him.  
  
“If there’s a customer we’ll hear the bell ring on the door.” Pink answered as he ran his fingers through Steven’s hair and kissed his jawline. 

Steven didn’t argue and Pink could feel the heat of his blush. “Okay,” He said as he pulled Pink closer, “But just for a little bit.”

Pink nodded, anything as long as Steven agreed and pressed their lips together. 

Steven’s hands rested on his hips as they kissed, and Pink liked the warmth and weight of his hands on his form like that. He slanted their mouths more together and carefully nipped at Steven’s lower lip. His human got the hint and opened his mouth so Pink could slip his tongue in and deepen the kiss like he wanted to. 

Steven gave a groan and tilted his head back as he leaned more against the couch. 

Pink’s breath hitched when Steven’s hand went up under his hoodie and shirt to stroke at his gem. 

His fingers were barely touching it, Pink could feel that he was being careful with how far he went, not wanting to overstep. 

He pressed forward, hinting to Steven to touch him more, which he did. He inhaled sharply when he felt the palm of his hand, and that wonderful warmth on it. There was that spark of contact, because it was Steven who was touching him, like he was supposed to. 

Pink kissed Steven’s neck, while he felt Steven’s thumb stroke the face of his gem and he shuddered. He felt a strange aching, desperate feeling he’d never had before. It wasn’t bad, or painful though. Pink didn’t know what it was, only that he needed Steven’s touch to fix it and he pushed more into Steven’s hand with a soft whine he’d never heard himself make before.

Steven pressed his lips against Pink’s ear, “You okay?”

Pink shivered at the sound of Steven’s low voice and wished they were somewhere else, like Steven’s bed or the couch in the lighthouse. 

Steven hummed and rubbed a hand between Pink’s shoulders, 

“Okay, I think we need to stop for now.”  
  
Steven had done this before, where he suddenly stopped them from doing anymore. Pink didn’t understand what the problem was though

Pink shook his head, feeling a strange fevered dazedness, “I’m fine.”  
  
“Oh I _know_ you’re fine.” Steven said with a soft laugh as he pulled his hand away from his gem. 

Pink could tell Steven wasn’t making fun of him, but he was amused for some reason. 

He tried to kiss him again but Steven dodged and pulled him into a hug instead, 

“C’mon, bud. I mean it, no.”

“You like it when we kiss though.” Pink replied. Steven’s rejection of his kiss didn’t hurt much because at least he was still holding him. But Pink was still going to pout a little. He didn’t understand why Steven was making them stop. It felt nice. They both enjoyed it, and they were alone right now. 

“I know, but we are not going to _get it on_ in the break room at my job like we’re in a bad teen movie.”

Pink didn’t understand any of that and sat up, frowning softly. “But you do like it though, right?”

Steven smiled up at him, “Yeah, of course. I like it _too_ much, almost.”

Pink didn’t understand that either. If Steven enjoyed it so much, why stop?

“Here, okay so let’s talk about this, because I don’t want your feelings getting hurt again.” Steven said. 

He drummed his fingers against Pink’s thigh as he thought. Pink’s eyes drifted down to where Steven was biting his bottom lip, a habit he did whenever he was thinking about something. 

“Okay. So. Hand holding, touches, hugging, or even quick kisses...I’m okay with all of those things in public. Making out like what we were just doing needs to happen when we’re totally alone, like in my room or somewhere else not around people.”

“We’re not around people though.” Pink said.

“I know, but, this isn’t a good place to do stuff like that. This is my _job_. I’m supposed to be working.”

He smiled ruffling Pink’s hair. “Trust me, I’d love to do more. But we probably shouldn’t, not here, anyway.”

Pink nodded, feeling better. “Okay.” He fidgeted with one of the cords on his hoodie and looked down at Steven. “One more? Please?”

He had quickly learned Steven couldn’t resist it when Pink gave him pleading eyes, and this time was no different. 

Steven blushed, “You don’t fight fair at all.” He pulled Pink down a little, “Sure, just one more.”

Pink absolutely did not fight fair and he wasn’t sorry at all. 

He kissed Steven again, his hands coming up to frame his face, intending to make this good since it was the last deep kiss he’d get for a while. 

He felt Steven’s arms go around his waist to pull him closer. 

They both jumped when the back door suddenly opened and Chives walked into the break room. 

Her mouth fell open in surprise and she actually dropped her keys as she froze midstep.

She spluttered in shock, “Um- You, you’re--”

“Oh!” Steven flushed bright red, “H-Hey Chives!” He was struggling to sound normal and not at all like he’d just totally been kissing Pink.

Pink pointedly did _not_ get off of Steven’s lap, and he noticed that Steven’s arms were still around him.

“Sorry! We were just taking a break and um, yeah.” Steven said sheepishly. 

Chives was still too shocked, going pale as her wide green eyes darted between them. 

Pink tried not to be too smug at just how dismayed she was at seeing them kissing. 

Well. He never claimed to be a good person. But he hoped that with this, Chives might finally give up the chase. Pink was sick of the way Chives painted Steven’s body with her eyes, no doubt imagining how she’d have her way with his human.  
  
Chives looked like her mind was short circuiting as she struggled to comprehend, she laughed as though she was trying to make light of it. Pink noticed her fingers were shaking slightly as she combed them through the short bob of her platinum blonde hair.

Her laughter faltered, “No! It’s um, totally cool but. You, you guys are _dating_?”

That made Pink come up short. He didn’t know what to define them as. Steven was his human, and Pink was his gem. They belonged together. But Steven didn’t exactly _know_ that. 

“Yeah, we’re dating.” Steven replied with no hesitation, surprising Pink. “It’s been a few weeks now, right?”

Pink nodded along, agreeing with whatever Steven said. 

Chives was staring at the way Steven’s hands were resting on Pink’s hips. 

“Oh, cool, that’s _great_.” Her eyes were tight at the corners, “So happy for you guys.”

“Yeah, well. Um, we should probably get back to work-”

“Oh, actually!” Chives said with a forced smile. “Steven, why don’t you go ahead and just _leave early_?”

“Um, are you sure?”

“Yeah!” She nodded with too much enthusiasm, “I know you covered for Lars, and it’s supposed to be your day off!” 

“Oh, okay, If you’re cool with it. Thanks Chives, have a good day!”

She gave Steven a tense smile and he grabbed his messenger bag before taking Pink’s hand and leading him outside as they walked out to his car. 

Pink was quietly thrilled, “We’re dating?”

Steven flushed. “Oh- Was that okay? I mean, we don’t have to be if you don’t- I should have asked first-”

“I like it.” Pink replied, twining his arms around Steven and kissing him on the cheek. 

He liked the names Steven gave him. And he liked that Steven had claimed him, even though Pink hadn’t expected him to. 

“Pink?” 

“Can we go to the lighthouse?” Pink asked.

Steven raised his eyebrows. He realized what Pink wanted, he could feel it, and Pink knew he could. 

The top of his cheeks flushed, “Yeah, okay.”

After they drove back to the temple, Pink picked him up and floated them up to the lighthouse as fast as he dared, not wanting to make Steven feel sick. 

As soon as Steven’s feet touched the worn, wood floor, Pink was kissing him.  
  
It really didn’t take much for Pink to feel that strange, anxious sensation again that he’d felt back at the music shop and as Steven leaned down to kiss him back Pink clenched his fingers in the cotton fabric of Steven’s shirt.

They were in the lighthouse, alone. The gems weren’t going to barge in on them all the way up here. 

Steven backed up, letting Pink push him down onto the couch and climb on top of him, mirroring their positions from the music shop.

Again, he felt the pressure of Steven’s hands on his hips and Pink pushed his fingers through Steven’s hair as he kissed him. He could feel that thrilling feeling rise up in the both of them and Pink instinctively grinded his hips down, causing Steven to breathe out in surprise at the sudden, pleasurable friction. 

Steven shuddered out, “Pink--Oh, Stars.”

Pink liked the noise Steven made, and wanted to hear it again. Before he could try though, Steven pushed the front of his hoodie up and touched the smooth face of his gemstone. 

At the heated contact of his fingers against his gem Pink inhaled a gasp, clenching his fingers in the dark curls of Steven’s hair.

His hips shuddered as Steven’s fingers traced the edges of his gem and felt that strange, wonderful ache again. 

“Is that nice?” Steven breathed out. His fingers swirled around Pink’s gem and Steven gazed at his face, watching him shiver from the sensation of it. 

Pink nodded as he trembled and found himself struggling to hold himself up from the strange tremors of pleasure that licked at him as Steven stroked his gem. 

He gave a needy whine, he needed more, needed more of it. 

“I’ve got you.” Steven said.  
  
Steven lifted Pink and changed their positions, maneuvering them so Pink was laying back on the couch as Steven hovered over him.  
  
Pink look up at him dazedly, “Steven?”

“If it’s too much, just tell me to stop, okay?” Steven asked, cheeks flushed and his dark eyes intense. “I’m gonna try something, but let me know if you don’t like it.”

Pink nodded, though he couldn’t imagine ever telling Steven to stop making him feel good like this. 

Steven kissed Pink’s neck before he pushed the fabric up more and started trailing his lips down to his bare chest. His hands rested on the sides of Pink’s waist and Steven pointedly kissed the skin close to Pink’s gem, but not directly on it. 

The gem squirmed under him at the teasing, gentle kisses and tangled his fingers into Steven’s hair. “My Steven, please.”

Steven looked up at him with a smile, “Mmm?”

Pink blushed, warring with his desire for Steven to touch him more but feeling like it was rude to ask him to do something like this. 

“What is it?” He started to pull back but Pink squeezed his thighs against Steven’s waist, keeping him from moving. Steven wasn’t bothered by that and pressed a kiss near the top of Pink’s gem, one of his fingertips tracing just outside the the side of it-but still not touching. 

Pink whimpered, begging out, “Please touch me.”

His breath hitched when he felt Steven’s lips _barely_ graze his gem. 

“My gem-” Pink finally gasped out.

Steven smiled up at him, “Of course, you just had to ask.”

Pink wanted to accuse Steven of purposely teasing him but he broke off from that train of thought as soon as he felt Steven kiss his gem, sighing out from relief and the wonderful spark of feeling it elicited. 

He nearly shrieked though when he felt Steven lick up it, igniting another wave of pleasure that was strong enough it made him stutter. 

“St-Steven-?”

His human paused at his reaction, “This okay?”

Okay? Yes of course it was okay it just never would have occurred to him that Steven would even do that. Pink could only nod dumbly in reply.

Steven lowered his mouth again to Pink’s gem and kissed the facets, letting his tongue press against the smooth, glass like surface. 

Pink felt something like a surge of electricity burn through his body and he moaned out, arching his back as Steven mouthed at his gem. 

He tangled his fingers even more in the soft curls of Steven’s hair, trying not to accidentally pull on it. 

Steven’s hot tongue laved across the face of his gem and Pink whimpered out helplessly as his hips shuddered again. 

Steven could feel how this was making Pink feel, and was glad for it. He wasn’t sure if this would even do anything, but if touching it felt nice he had been sure that this would feel even better for Pink. He curled an arm around one of Pink’s thighs to try to hold him in place as he writhed under the sensation of Steven’s mouth on him. 

He ran a hand up Pink’s thigh, instinctively pressing a hand between his legs, forgetting that because he was a gem, nothing would be there. 

Only, to Steven’s surprise, there was a very familiar hardness that Steven had felt between his own legs before. Pink had shapeshifted to look like Steven...he hadn’t expected that Pink had copied every part of his body though. 

Curious, Steven gently pressed the heel of his palm against Pink’s clothed erection as he continued to kiss Pinks’ gem.

Pink saw stars burst behind his eyelids at the combined sensations and was begging out Steven’s name desperately, not knowing what he needed other than _more_. 

He looked down at Steven’s face, and all it took was Steven’s lovely dark brown eyes gazing up at him to send him over the edge with a whimpering gasp that left his body trembling helplessly through his orgasm. 

Pink was still shivering through it when Steven moved up to kiss his mouth, hands framing his face. He felt almost like a fluttering feeling emanating from his gem, a pulse that echoed the residual sensations of pleasure though his body.

After a few moments, Steven used the edge of his shirt to clean off Pink’s gem which made him writhe and shiver from the overstimulation, “T-too much, no more-”

“Sorry, sorry.” Steven said, immediately taking the pressure off his gem and kissing Pink’s fevered cheek in apology. “Didn’t mean to, sweetheart.”

Pink turned and cuddled into Steven’s arms, wanting the closeness. Steven was sweet as sugar of course and wrapped him up in his arms, kissing his forehead and running his fingers through his hair. 

After a few quiet moments, Pink slanted a leg between Steven’s thighs and felt the hardness there, “Steven, you need to-”

“I’m fine, this is good.” Steven said, giving another kiss between his horns. 

That wasn’t fair, though. Steven had made Pink feel good, Pink wanted to do the same for him. Steven deserved to feel the same way and Pink wanted to be the one who did it to him. 

He reached down with his hand, “I want to.” 

Steven hesitated, “I-Okay, um, sure.”

Pink was curious, and he wanted to know how to make Steven feel nice, too. He had an idea of how to, human anatomy was very familiar to him after all, as he’d spent the majority of his existence fused with one. Pink unfastened the button on Steven’s jeans and unzipped it. He blushed when he saw the way Steven’s erection strained against the dark cotton of his boxer briefs. He rubbed the palm of his hand against it, making Steven shudder and hold Pink tighter.

“Just that, that’s good.” Steven said in a strained voice as he rocked his hips into Pink’s hand with a soft moan. 

Impatience clawed up from his gem. Pink wanted more, he wanted to feel Steven’s bare form, without the fabric between them. “Let me touch you?” Pink asked, kissing Steven’s neck. 

Steven’s cheeks blushed darker, his eyes shy. “You don’t need to-”

“I _want_ you.” Pink replied, insistently pushing his human back against the couch and leaned over him. He nudged himself more between Steven’s thighs so he could have better access.  
  
Steven’s head was spinning. Pink wasn’t even touching him completely and already he was overwhelmed. Still, he nodded, trusting him. 

Pink pushed his briefs down and curled his fingers around his cock which was flushed the same shade of pink as Steven’s cheeks. Steven shuddered as Pink squeezed him, unprepared for how intense it felt. He’d touched himself before of course, but it was nothing compared to Pink doing it with his warm hand.  
  
At once he felt self conscious. Steven was laying under him and had nowhere to hide from Pink’s bright, intense gaze. He’d never been with anyone like this before, he’d never let anyone get this close to him, ever. 

Pink could sense Steven’s anxiety and felt something surge in him at his vulnerable expression. Pink touched their foreheads together as he stroked him. “It’s okay, don’t shy from me, My Steven.” Pink kissed him as he stroked his hand up Steven’s cock. Steven huffed out a whine, his hips writhing in his grip. 

“Does that feel nice?” He asked, even though he knew it did as he felt the ghost of Steven’s pleasure curl around him. 

His human shivered, and nodded, his fingers ruching into the fabric at Pink’s shoulders.

“Good.”

Pink experimented a little and squeezed firmly, and looked down between them. Steven’s length was flushed dark pink and very warm in his hand. He noticed what looked like a small slit at the velvet soft tip of it and rubbed his thumb over it, curious. 

Steven gave a needy keen that did something to Pink. Okay, that was nice.

Pink jerked him harder and Steven gasped, clinging to Pink as his hips tried to thrust up into his hand.

Steven tried to hide into his shoulder but Pink held his face with one hand, forcing him to look at him as he stroked him off.

“My Steven is so shy, likes to make me feel good but acts like this when it’s his turn.”

He shivered as Pink’s hand squeezed him. There was strange knot of vibrant pleasure that seemed to tighten every time Pink’s hand worked him over and it was so overwhelming at this point Steven couldn’t stand it. 

“Please--I need it.” Steven gasped out, his eyes unfocused as he helplessly thrust his hips up into Pink’s touch. 

Pink kissed him, giving Steven a hard squeeze that made him cry out and come over his hand.

Pink let Steven cling to him and kissed his cheek as Steven had, gently stroking him through his orgasm.

He could feel the rush of endorphins that flooded Steven’s body, the way his pulse thudded like a rabbit’s. 

Pink at once was excited, because _he’d_ been the one to make Steven feel this way. He’d been the one to see Steven’s face as he gave into the pleasure and let it overtake him. 

Pink licked the come off his hand as he gazed down at his human. Steven’s dark eyes were half lidded and glazed over from the heady remnants of his orgasm. His lips were red from their kisses and also from biting down on it and his cheeks were flushed pink. Pink quietly felt pride that he had been the one who made Steven that way, that he had been able to instil the blissed out expression on his face, and the thrum of pleasure in his veins. 

Steven tugged at the front of Pink’s sweater, a wordless request for him to lean down. As he happily obliged his human and kissed him, Pink silently swore that he would be the only one who would ever see him like this.  
  
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.  
  


  


**!!!NSFW Art Warning!!!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From now on, this fic will be rated E. 
> 
> As an aside, Steven is 18 and Pink can’t physically age anymore because he’s fully a gem but he’s technically even older than Steven. They’re both legal, m’kay?
> 
> If you’d like to avoid the spicy bits, skip where it says: Steven shuddered out, “Pink--Oh, Stars.” 
> 
> And resume at: Steven tugged on the front of Pink’s sweater.
> 
> Sorry it’s taken me so long to update. I won’t bore you with the reasons why but it’s nice to be back :)
> 
> Check out my twitter @dizzystarcomet if you enjoy my art or would like periodic updates on the fic!
> 
> Thank you so much for your kind words and great comments! I love reading them whenever I’m facing a writer’s block! :D

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


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